


New Beginnings

by MellodramaticLawliet



Category: Death Note, Death Note & Related Fandoms
Genre: AU, Highschool AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-02-23
Packaged: 2018-09-19 06:32:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 66,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9422591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MellodramaticLawliet/pseuds/MellodramaticLawliet
Summary: Highschool student Light Yagami is tasked with showing around the eccentric new student Ryuzaki and the two don't exactly hit it off... at first. - highschool au.





	1. New Beginnings

Light P.O.V.

Light Yagami was a student like any other. Of course, aside from his perfect grades, his unmarred attendance record, his spotless disciplinary file, and the obvious favoritism from every single teacher in his school. Even the ones he never had.

Other than that, Light was pretty much above average in every aspect of his life. Despite being generally popular and well liked by everyone, he had only two friends he could describe as remotely close; though, neither one of them were exactly what he would describe as "on his level." Not that Light found himself bothered by this fact. The majority of his peers were immature and unsophisticated, and he preferred as minimal interaction as possible. Not that he didn't enjoy the company of his friends, but even the two of them could be a bit... much... after a while.

Overall, despite his aggressive study habits, his burgeoning future as a detective in the NPA, and his general popularity, Light Yagami was inherently, unquenchably, mind numbingly... bored.

Until.

Light's day had started off just as any other: he had woken up, grabbed a quick breakfast, waved goodbye to his mother and sister, and was able to make it to school 10 minutes ahead of schedule. Same as always.

As he hurried toward the main entrance to the school building, he caught sight of a black leather-bound notebook lying abandoned on the grass. He frowned, wondering who could be so oblivious as to drop an entire notebook and not notice.

He checked his watch, nine minutes until the beginning of class. His curiosity getting the better of him, he bent to pick up the stray notebook, examining the cover as he did so. There wasn't anything particularly remarkable about it, not even a title. Light frowned, flipping through its pages; it seemed odd that there wasn't a single word written anywhere in the book despite there being only three months until the end of the school year.

Sighing, he flipped the notebook to the inside cover, hoping to find the name of the person to which the notebook belonged. Before he could check however, Light heard a cough from directly in front of him.

Light startled slightly, nearly dropping the notebook in surprise. The guy had been silent in his approach, and if he hadn't coughed Light wasn't sure he would have noticed him as quickly as he had.

Slowly, Light blinked as his mind registered the appearance of possibly the most bizarre person he had ever seen: raven black hair that looked as though it had never seen a brush hung over his deathly pale face. His eyes both seemed bruised, as though he were either a chronic insomniac or had picked a fight with a martial artist. Despite this, his grey eyes were piercing and watchful. He would have looked rather menacing if not for the baggy white shirt and faded blue jeans that looked about two sizes too big on him.

"I-I'm sorry, is this yours?" Light stuttered a bit, still trying to get over the fact that he wasn't wearing shoes, but quickly regained his composure.

"Yes actually." he said in a rather deep monotonous tone. Plucking the notebook from Light's hands between his pointer finger and thumb as though it were filthy, he opened it to the inside cover and pointed to a name scrawled in the lower right hand corner in messy handwriting.

"I'm Ryuzaki." He stated, still pointing to the name rather unnecessarily.

"I see that," Light turned on his best First Impression smile, "you must be new here, I'm L-"

"LIIGHT!" He was cut off by a whiny all-too-familiar voice. Light turned to see Misa Amane racing toward them, waving enthusiastically as though she thought he wouldn't see her. How on earth she was able to run in those high heeled boots would forever escape his reasoning. Her cute blonde pigtails coupled with a stylish gothic Lolita look and a bubbly personality led to nearly every boy, and some girls, drooling after her wherever she went. Sadly she decided to practically stalk- *ahem* - flirt with the only person who wasn't head over heels for her.

"Oh, hi Misa," Light greeted her, bracing himself for the inevitable hug-tackle that nearly knocked him over. "I was just introducing myself to -" He turned to the spot Ryuzaki had been standing a moment earlier. Glancing around perplexedly, Light managed to catch sight of a head of messy black hair as it disappeared into the crowd of tired looking teenagers trudging into the building.

"Hm? To who?" Misa looked around in confusion, "haha... umm Light? I think you need more sleep" she giggled, still clinging to Light's arm.

"Yes Light," came a cold voice to their left, "maybe you should get to bed a bit earlier."

 _Oh wonderful,_ Light thought to himself, _today's going to be_ that _sort of day._ He groaned inwardly as he glanced over to greet Kiyomi Takada. She was the complete opposite of Misa: cold and stoic, with short black hair and a holier than thou attitude. In contrast to Misa's bad girl look, Kiyomi wore more proper attire, grey skirts and blouses as if she were about to attend an interview. The two of them were complete polar opposites aside from one thing; their obsession - *ahem* - interest in Light.

If they weren't best friends Light was sure they'd have torn one another to shreds long ago. In fact, he still wondered how their friendship worked so well, especially since whenever they weren't gossiping or hanging out together, they were fighting over him.

"Ughhh, butt out Takada! How would you possibly know Light's sleep schedule!?" Misa stuck her tongue out at Kiyomi while maintaining her death-grip on Light's arm, which by that time was beginning to go numb.

"Oh Misa," Kiyomi pursed her lips in a patronizing manner "you could at least try to act a bit more mature... Don't you think Light?" she fluttered her eyelashes at him.

 _Great,_ Light thought sarcastically as Misa opened her mouth to retaliate, _here we go again..._

Ryuzaki P.O.V.

 _So that is the infamous Light Yagami._ L thought to himself as he carefully navigated the school hallway, not even trying to suppress the smirk he wore. He'd been informed upon arrival that morning, by the principal no less, that he was to be given a tour of the school by the "top ranking, most studious student to ever walk these halls."

Hurray for him.

The way the headmaster had spoken, it became apparent that Light Yagami was considered as somewhat of a god in this school. Academically of course.

Despite only attending for investigatory purposes, L couldn't resist introducing himself to Mr. Perfect, if only to determine whether he lived up to his god-like reputation. In his - professional - opinion Light was fairly handsome, in a sheltered genius sort of way, and was nice enough to introduce himself to the strange new student.

 _We'll see in a few minutes._ L thought, contemplating the tour he was to be given in approximately... 7 minutes. Glancing through one of the hall windows, L looked back in time to see Light being assaulted by Miss Misa Amane, the teenage model he had read about in the case file.

 _Misa Amane..._ he thought as he continued to his classroom. She was pretty, and stunningly so, though judging by her social media personas, she was too enthusiastic, and downright stupid, for his taste.

L was not looking forward to the prospect of getting close to her, but sadly it was required. Despite being under the guise of the quirky new student Ryuzaki, in actuality he was the quirky world famous detective known as L. He solved impossible cases, and placed criminals behind bars, all while hiding his true identity behind a screen.

On certain low profile cases such as this one however, he preferred to go undercover himself, if only to escape the unending boredom he seemed to be perpetually plagued with. This particular case was so low profile he normally wouldn't have even taken it, if he had not been asked to by an old associate. Aiber had been concerned for the safety of his daughter when a series of student killings had started up at her school, and L couldn't resist the idea of going undercover. If only for a few weeks.

Of course Ryuzaki didn't know the particulars, such as which of his, now, fellow students was Aiber's daughter, or even her name; though, after all these years L felt that he owed it to Aiber to protect her. Plus he didn't have any other cases at the time. And he had grown rather bored of sitting around at the orphanage while his successors were in class. Nothing like a good serial killer to lift his morale.

He arrived at the classroom just in time as the first bell rang, not wanting to be there longer than he had to. Silently, he handed his new student notice to the teacher and proceeded to stand rather awkwardly at the front of the classroom just as a slightly rumpled looking Light walked into the room. Right behind him came Misa Amane along with another girl who seemed to be ignoring Misa.

"Ah Mr. Yagami," said the teacher, Mr. Obata, if he remembered correctly. "You and Mr. Ryuzaki are excused from class today as you are to show him around the school."

Light glanced at him with a look of recognition, "Of course. Hello again Ryuzaki, if you'll follow me," he gestured graciously to the door "and try not to slip off this time." he said with a smile as a show of good-naturedness.

"As long as you can keep up, we shouldn't have a problem." L replied, speeding up his pace to walk ahead of Light. In response he too quickened his pace so that he was leading the way down the hall.

 _Hmm..._ L's eyes narrowed. _Childishness? Or simply a strong sense of authority.._. he pondered this for a few seconds. Either way Light still seemed arrogant, what with his perpetual good-naturedness - an obvious ploy for approval - and the way he held himself, as though he were better than everyone else and he knew it. Plus the fact that he wore a tie to high school.

"My name is Light Yagami," he was saying "as you probably already know."

"Yes" L muttered, putting on his best Bored-Out-of-My-Mind expression. Light frowned, but began pointing out classrooms and naming various academic programs and extracurricular activities the school had to offer.

"This room on the right is-"

"Mr. Juuzo, first year biology laboratory." L cut him off. As part of the case he had already memorized every room, class, and teacher at the school. The only point of being on this tour was to keep up his appearance as a regular student.

"I see you've managed to memorize the layout of the building." he said raising his eyebrow as if to say 'why are you even on this tour?'

"How do you know, Light-kun?" He added the 'kun' to the end of his name to test his reaction.

"Well if you're in my grade, then the logical assumption would be that you are not in any first year classes," he replied, frowning slightly at the presumptive honorific, "with that in mind you wouldn't have any reason to know which teacher is for first year biology, let alone which room he's in." he finished with a rather haughty air as though he expected to be praised.

This was the point at which L began to think of Light as a pompous prick. The rest of the tour consisted of them maintaining civil appearances while secretly finding ways to casually offend each other. It was rather entertaining for L to study the way Light's facade cracked whenever he managed to hit home with an insult.

All too soon, the midday bell rang and Light left L at his locker, sarcastically assuring L that he trusted him to find his way to the lunch hall.

L smirked at Light Yagami's retreating figure, taking pride in the fact that he could cause someone as composed as Light to break character.

As L opened his locker his phone chimed with an incoming text from Watari, his makeshift guardian who accompanied him on cases.

'Ryuzaki, I trust everything is going well? - W'

Yes. L thought to himself, chewing contemplatively at his thumbnail. This case should prove to be very interesting.


	2. Second Opinions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Light and L rethink their hastily made opinions of one another, and L begins to think about the case.

Light P.O.V

Light stormed away from where he had left Ryuzaki, probably more vehemently than necessary, although it wasn't quite uncalled for. He fumed silently as he made his way to the lunch hall. Who did Ryuzaki think he was? That whole snobfest was entirely unprovoked as well. What an arrogant asshole.

Upon reaching the bustling cafeteria, Light made his way toward the back of the room, heading to the usual corner table where Misa and Kiyomi were already seated. Pointedly ignoring each other. He sat between them with a sigh and began working on his calculus problems between mouthfuls of food. It wasn't due until the next week, but he hadn't gained the reputation as the best and brightest of the school by putting off work until the last minute.

"So Light," Kiyomi prompted "how was your tour with the new school freak? Was he as weird as one would imagine?" She smirked in the direction of the entrance to the hall, and sure enough there stood Ryuzaki. He appeared a bit unsure until he seemed to spot an empty table relatively close to Misa, Kiyomi, and Light. All three of which continued to stare at him unashamedly.

Once he had settled himself at the empty table, he pulled out the most sugar filled lunch Light had ever seen: biscuits and cake as well as a baggie of panda crackers. If this was what he ate to fuel his brain on a daily basis it honestly wouldn't surprise Light if he became diabetic in the near future.

Unperturbed by the quite obvious stares he was receiving from the tables near him, he proceeded to eat his lunch as though it were his last meal. Doesn't he know he's just drawing more attention to himself? Light thought incredulously, as he himself still stared.

"Light! Are you even listening to me?" Kiyomi's whiny voice startled him out of watching Ryuzaki eat his odd lunch.

"Sorry, what were you saying?"

"Honestly" she pretended to be offended for a moment, but then replied "I was asking how the tour went, although judging by how you were glaring at him a moment ago, I would assume you two didn't get along well."

"You're right, as always Kiyomi -"

"Ooh, what'd he do? Did you kick his butt Light?" Misa mimed punching Ryuzaki in the face.

He chuckled good-naturedly, Misa could be so ridiculous sometimes, "No, nothing like that, he just proved to be a bit more bigheaded than I expected."

"Hmm, well I certainly hope you put that freak in his place Light, he should know who is in charge of this school." Kiyomi narrowed her eyes at Ryuzaki's hunched figure.

"How many times have I told you Kiyomi, we don't own this school, we aren't 'in charge' of anything, he's free to do what he wants." Light replied with a flippant wave of his hand for emphasis.

She gave him an icy glare and abruptly stood up. "I think I'll finish my lunch in the library, I have a test to study for." She looked down at Light for a moment before stalking out of the hall.

"Jeez who shoved a pole up her butt?" Misa snickered, obviously enjoying watching Kiyomi being put in her place.

"What was that about shoving objects in people's orifices?" The rather perplexed sounding voice came from directly behind them, startling Light for the second time that day and nearly causing him to spill his lunch over his lap.

Light turned to stare daggers at his new least favourite person, who seemed to be hovering over Kiyomi's abandoned chair with a confused look on his panda face, "Do you need something?" he quipped harshly.

"Oh, I was just wondering if I could sit with you two. I would rather not sit alone, and it would seem that you have a vacancy." he said gesturing towards Kiyomi's abandoned chair.

"Sure!" Misa replied happily, before Light could shoot him down.

Damn it Misa. He thought unhappily as Ryuzaki took his seat. He sat rather oddly with his knees tucked up to his chest, just one more thing to add to his freakish persona.

L P.O.V

L raised an eyebrow smugly as he watched Kiyomi stalk out of the cafeteria. He would have congratulated the person or persons who had sent her into a mood, if only it had not been Light.

Oh well, the time had come to integrate himself into Miss Amane's social group. He sighed heavily as he stood from his seat and made his way toward where Light and Misa were sitting, still looking toward Takeda's retreating form.

Sadly this was necessary for the investigation. When L had first recieved the email from Aiber, one immediate quality of the victims had stuck in his mind: blonde hair, a penchant for gothic style clothing, and a reputation as being rather "popular." This description fit Miss Amane perfectly, and with her rising career as a model, and he guessed it was only a matter of time before an attempt was taken at her life.

Call him cold hearted, but Misa struck him as a perfect baiting opportunity. If he were to use Miss Amane to entice the killer, this case would be in the bag by the end of the month. The only problem with this plan was that she was popular and rather pretty and Ryuzaki was... well... Ryuzaki.

It would be an egregious err to mistake L for one with self esteem issues, though he could admit to himself that he was not the most strikingly handsome male in the world. Not to mention that his eating, sitting, and sleeping habits aren't exactly what most would call appealing. Plus his proclivity for sarcasm and harsh comebacks...

He grudgingly admitted that this could prove to be more difficult than he had first imagined. This was why he usually solved investigations from behind a computer screen. Too late now.

"- shoved a pole up her butt -" Misa was saying as Ryuzaki approached their table.

Of all the things he had expected to hear, this was not one of them.

"What was that about shoving objects in people's orifices?" He asked, rather alarmed, causing Light to jump and turn to glare icily at him.

"Do you need something?" he asked with a scowl.

 _Rude._ L thought, _at least I left a lasting impression with him._

"Oh, I was just wondering if I could sit with you two. I would rather not sit alone, and it would seem that you have a vacancy." He replied smoothly, pointing at the empty chair which had previously been occupied by Takeda.

"Sure!" Misa smiled warmly. That was easier than he had thought, or perhaps Misa was simply nicer than he had originally anticipated. Most people in her position tended to be rather vain and stuck up. Light didn't seem to be too happy with her friendliness.

Time to make amends he supposed.

"I believe we got off on the wrong hand earlier," L said, withholding his sigh and extending a hand toward Light "shall we start over?" He tried to keep himself from cringing the hackneyed phrase, hoping he wouldn't have to stoop to using such cliché sentences again.

"Alright," Light warily took his hand "I suppose we can put the tour earlier behind us, I wouldn't want you to start out with a bad impression of the students here."

"Aww Light, you're so generous, isn't he Ryuzaki-kun?" Misa gushed, cuddling up to Light as he shot an apologetic look at Ryuzaki.

"I suppose he is." Ryuzaki replied, bemusedly watching the way that Light scrunched up his nose when Misa hugged him.

 _So they aren't dating._ L noted bemusedly. Although he had assumed as much while watching Takeda and Misa argue over him this morning, he never really knew with females. Women could be extraordinarily territorial.

The lunch period went by rather quickly after that, and soon enough the bell rang for afternoon classes to begin.

"Hey Ryuzaki, what class do you have now?" Misa inquired, sticking as close to Light as humanly possible. L wasn't quite unsure as to why their proximity to each other bothered him, but it did.

"AP calculus." He replied.

"It seems that we have the same class again." Light remarked.

It would turn out that they had every class together, only three of which were shared with Misa Amane. The rest of the day went by in a boring blur, each tedious class mixing in with the next. At the Wammy House, where L had been taken in after his time on the streets, L had become an expert in these subjects by the age of ten.

The last period of the day turned out to be a study hall, which he and Light spent talking rather than doing work. It turned out that he was not as much of a prick as L had originally thought.

He had been wrong about quite a few things that day, which was surprising, considering he was usually only wrong about 1% of the time; though he supposed that just went to show how much time he had actually spent interacting with normal people before that day, which was close to none.

He and Light spent the study hall conversing about books they had read, and what they thought we would do in the future. Ryuzaki made up some story of how he wanted to be an author; though in actuality L did not have much of a penchant for writing, but had planned on working on his rhetoric at some point. Then seemed as good a time as any.

It turned out that Light was studying to be a detective. L pondered over that for a bit; though detective work is incredible, with his grades and reputation, most would assume he would go for being a lawyer or a doctor rather than a police officer.

Despite this, L could clearly see the detective spark in him. He seemed eager for adventure, and he certainly had the mind for it. In the time they had gotten to know one another, Light had already showed a hint of deductive abilities that could almost mirror L himself.

L considered that perhaps he had misjudged Light. He would certainly prove to be an added bonus to this case, and surely getting to know him a bit better wouldn't hurt. Which is why Ryuzaki decided to accept his phone number when he offered it after class.

"I want to know your thoughts on the murders that had been happening around here lately." Light smiled politely at him, and L wondered vaguely if Light's expressions were ever genuine, "Perhaps we could even solve them."

L thought about this as Watari drove him back to the apartment they had rented for the duration of the case. He certainly had the means to pursue the case, as his father was the chief of the police in the area.

_Should I watch to see how he attempts to solve the murders? Or do I finish the investigation quickly and go back to Wammy's as soon as possible, as I originally planned..._

Speaking of Wammy's House, L checked his phone to find over fifty messages, no doubt from the fearsome three.

Back in England there was an orphanage under the guise of a regular refuge for abandoned children, but in actuality all of the children there were geniuses in their own way. Each child in the successor program, meant to find a suitable heir to the title of L, were taught the highest level subjects, and the top student by the time L died or chose to pass down his position was to be his successor.

The top three students at the Wammy House were Matt, Mello, and Near.

These three boys, along with Watari were the only people L considered family. The boys were practically his brothers, and at times it seemed almost as if they were his own children.

He could easily admit to favoring them over the other Wammy Students, but it was incredibly difficult not to as they had adopted him as their family as much as he had adopted them as his.

Near was the top student at the age of eight (and a half as he always reminded everyone). He was very reclusive and hated to mingle with the other children, though he clung to Matt and Mello like a life line.

Mello was second in line at the age of ten, and was known to be a rather extreme troublemaker, especially around Matt. He pretended to despise Near for being first, but L had a theory that he secretly thought of Near as his little brother.

Matt was third in line, and also the sweetest child he had ever met. Matt always had a smile on his face, and was the only one able to calm Mello down when he started into one of his rages.

L felt terrible about leaving them for so long on this case, but it had to be done.

The three of them had apparently been texting him nonstop during the school day. He sighed, knowing he would have to speak to them about this. Despite their ages, they each had a phone to contact him with. The perks of being a genius child.

He would have to call them when they arrived back at the apartment, although his first priority was to decide what to do about Light Yagami and the case at hand.


	3. Yagami

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> L and Light's friendship progresses, and L is confused over these newfound feelings of affection for another human being

L P.O.V.

"Hello Light, it's your new friend Ryuzaki" _...no_

"Light, it's me" _...even worse_

"Hello Light, it's Ryuzaki. About that case we talked about" _...no_

"Light I presume? This is Ryuzaki. I wanted to further discuss the case you had mentioned after class, please text me back if it is convenient. - R"

L mused over how odd it was to send texts to someone other than Watari or the boys. He had never really had a friend or classmate before tp whom he could send messages.

**bzzt bzzzzt**

L glanced back at the screen, as the name 'Light Yagami' blinked up at him.

That was rather quick.

"Hello Ryuzaki, this is Light. I would love to talk about the case, what would you like to know? - Y"

 _Everything_ , L thought bemusedly as he raised an eyebrow at the little monochrome "Y" at the end of Light's text. For "Yagami" he presumed.

'Well how much do you know? - R'

'Quite a bit. - Y'

'I'm listening.- R'

'Alright then, here's what I know: there have been three victims so far, all of which female. Each of their bodies were found on school property, in classrooms they had no business being in. I didn't really know them well but they were each well liked by just about everyone in the class, and all of them were blonde haired and had around the same taste in clothing as Misa. This leads me to believe that it's a male teacher doing the killing. Wouldn't you agree? - Y'

'That is exactly what I thought when I first heard that the victims were all female. -R'

Though even the most simple-minded police officer could have worked that out.

'We should look into which classes they had in common. I know you want to be a writer, but you seem to have a good mind for detective work if you would like to help. - Y'

L considered his options; on one hand the opportunity to study Light and assess his deductive capabilities was intriguing, but on the other hand he would probably close the case faster on his own, and bringing Light into the case could be seen as the endangerment of a civilian. Not to mentioned he promised Mello he would end the case as soon as possible...

'Of course Light-kun, I will do what I can to help you solve the case. - R'

'That would be great, no, more than great... We can start looking into it more tomorrow. I have helped my father out a couple times on some of his cases, but if we solve this one on our own... I would probably be hired as a detective right out of high school.-Y'

L smiled amusedly at his apparent enthusiasm.

'Yes, it's very likely... So, Light, what exactly made you to want to be a detective so badly? - R'

He was rather curious to hear Light's answer, especially as he seemed pretty adamant about his choice of profession, more so than most students his age.

'As you know, my father is the Chief of Police and I've always wanted to follow in his footsteps... but also because I'm good at it. I mean, I'm good at tennis and academics as well, but detective work is more exciting. Not to mention I'll be able to bring justice to those who prey on the innocent. - Y'

'Well that seems like a rather noble cause. - R'

'I guess I've always been that way, as children most people want to be princesses or astronauts, they look up to pop stars and fairy tale characters; I wanted to solve crime. My role model growing up was L. - Y'

Ryuzaki felt a jolt of recognition as his title glared up at him from the phone screen almost accusingly.

'Who's to say that L is not, in fact, a fairy tale character? Simply a made up story to inspire young detectives? - R'

His reply came within a minute after Ryuzaki's.

'You know about L? I thought most people didn't know about him, but then again I suppose you're not most people. I can't explain it, but I just know that L is out there solving cases in the name of justice. As an amateur detective I try not to judge based on instinct alone, but I can feel it, L is real Ryuzaki. And I intend on meeting him someday. - Y'

The writhing in his stomach grew, now accompanied by a constriction in his chest. He wondered vaguely if he was becoming asthmatic. That would be a problem. He would have to ask Watari about it later.

'You have an excellent sense of intuition Light Yagami. - R'

'? - Y'

L decided not to respond to the question marks. If he was going to work aside Light Yagami, he was going to have to be extremely cautious... lest his deepest secret be revealed.

To that he had but two words. Challenge accepted.

Light P.O.V.

What could he possibly have meant by that? Light wondered, tossing his phone aside for the night. It appeared as though Ryuzaki wasn't going to text him back anytime soon.

He rolled onto his back and began to contemplate his newfound friendship with Ryuzaki. If he craned his neck Light could just make out the words of Ryuzaki's last text, 'You have an excellent sense of intuition Light Yagami - R'

Ryuzaki's behavior had seemed strange - more so than usual - after he mentioned L.

 _Could he be..._ No that was impossible. For one thing L never came out from behind his computer screen. For another this guy was way too odd to be the world's greatest detective. All of the other detectives on his father's task force were well groomed and nearly OCD in their habits... Ryuzaki was anything but.

Light nearly laughed out loud at his own presumption. Ryuzaki as L, hahahaha...

The guy would probably make a great writer though, he certainly was dramatic enough.

L P.O.V.

The first week of his high school experience passed by at a tremendously fast pace, and without much leeway on the case. By Friday he had managed to procure a copy of all three victims' schedules and it turned out that each them had four classes in common; Chemistry, Calculus, English Language, and study hall.

Light was thrilled. When he questioned how Ryuzaki had gotten a hold of the information, L told him he broke into the headmaster's office.

"Ryuzaki, you probably shouldn't have done that... Headmaster Ackerman is pretty harsh when it comes to discipline." Light remarked, though his expression indicated his appreciation.

"Ehh." Ryuzaki waved this off. They were sequestered in the library, having commandeered a table in the back corner in the hopes of having a bit of privacy as they discussed the case. Also so that they would be able to converse without receiving stern glares from the school's librarian, who seemed to have made it her personal mission to psych Ryuzaki out of returning to her library. A mission wasted, as he was not so easily warded off. Especially after enduring a ten year-and-counting feud with the Wammy House librarian.

"No, it's not just 'Ehh'" he mimicked Ryuzaki's flippant hand wave "You probably shouldn't take risks like that as a new student."

"What do you think it'll be like to be a detective?" Ryuzaki retorted, "Besides, Misa has told me some interesting stories of your early years here... hacking into the school's website at the age of ten? Apparently criminal behavior starts young."

"I don't see any proof of these claims." Light raised one eyebrow imperiously, "And besides, since when do you talk to Misa outside of school?"

"Since someone gave her my phone number." L gave Light a meaningful stare.

The bastard didn't even blink. "And who would have done that?"

L was about to reply - rather smarmily one would imagine - when two boys from their class approached the table. They each held an expression that made Light tense as though he were expecting a fight.

"Hey Yagami." The one smirked down at Light in the same way bullies at the Wammy house sometimes looked at the smaller children.

"I didn't know you had a thing for freaks." he sneered at Ryuzaki, "Or is it just some sort of kinky fetish? I can't see this weirdo being good in bed, I mean look at how he sits!"

L ignored this, he was rather used to being made fun of for how he sat, dressed, ate, walked, and basically every other aspect of his personage. He was rather unconcerned however, as he had long since made peace with the idea of being different; not to mention the children at Wammy's during his early years had been much more imaginative when coming up with insults than these two morons.

Light sighed in annoyance but was interrupted before he had the chance to retort by the second boy, who leaned down and wrote something across the top of Light's homework in pen.

"It doesn't surprise me, I mean look at what his name spelled backwards is. Yagami equals -"

He was abruptly cut off as L's foot connected with his jaw bone, and he crumpled to the floor in a whimpering ball. _One down, one to go._ L thought as he started toward the other one. Ryuzaki felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to Light, who had stood from his chair.

"Ryuzaki, it's not worth it. Let it go."

"Faggots!" The boy still standing shouted as he dragged his friend to his feet, and they quickly ran from the library, directly in front of the librarian, who hadn't so much as glanced up from her reading. Must have been a good book.

Ryuzaki sat back down heavily in his chair and pulled his knees to his chest. Glancing quickly over at Light's paper he read the ugly slur the boy had written.

'Yagami = I'm a Gay'

Ryuzaki felt sick. He was in no way a homophobe, in fact back at the Wammy House they encouraged the students to be themselves as much as possible. Sure there were bullies, as with any school, but homophobia was basically nonexistent there.

He himself was not gay myself as far as he knew, because honestly, he had never really taken the time to pursue romantic entanglement. Most people were much too ignorant or boring. Even considering this, L could not fathom having such an insecurity problem that he would feel the need to ridicule someone else for the gender they prefer. Seeing Light put down by his fellow classmates made him unbelievably... well, pissed off.

"Ryuzaki, calm down," Light seemed shocked, "why are you reacting so strongly all of the sudden?" He frowned, and Ryuzaki could see worry in his eyes.

"Because, Light, if I had not come to this school and befriended you, you would never had been picked on like that." Ryuzaki looked down at his paper, surprised by his own sudden feeling of guilt, "This is my fault."

"No." he said scribbling out the words with his pen, "Ryuzaki, believe it or not, but I was bullied a ton as a kid."

Ryuzaki stared at him in disbelief. "You? Mr. Perfect?"

Light frowned, "I wish you would stop calling me that, but yes I was. The other kids made fun of me because I was smarter than them, and because I wanted to be a detective instead of a pirate or an astronaut like everyone else." He sat back and crossed his legs, seeming nonchalant.

Ryuzaki felt another flash of irrational anger flood through him, which only served to befuddle him further.

"I learned to just ignore it, and soon enough it straightened out. I mean look at me now I'm ..." he sighed in defeat and waved a hand through the air as though to minimize his concession, "Mr. Perfect as you seem to enjoy calling me."

L nodded, his mind racing, "Interesting."

Light shot him a bemused smile as the last bell of the day rang and they stood to collect their things. L noted vaguely that this smile was genuine.

"So don't worry about it okay?" Light led the way though the door and L simply nodded again. "So Misa and Kiyomi wanted me to see a movie with them over the weekend. Any chance you'll come?"

L nodded for a third time, still deep in thought, though Light seemed to be doing his best to cause them both to forget the incident, "That sounds like fun."

Light smiled again slightly, "See you then."

"See you..." L mumbled almost to himself as they parted ways, Light heading to his locker, and L to the parking lot where Watari would be waiting with the car. He was so lost in thought as he wove his way through the throng of people that he nearly knocked into three of them, earning himself more than a few glares along the way. Not that he ever noticed.

"Rough day I take it?" Watari chuckled from the front seat as he climbed in back and tucked his knees up to his chest in the usual fashion.

"Yes" L replied absentmindedly.

Wammy's eyes bored holes in his forehead through the rearview mirror.

"Oh?" his tone had switched from mildly amused to parental concern, knowing full well that L never tended to talk about his problems, preferring to work them out on his own. Today was different however, as L wasn't entirely sure what the problem was in the first place.

"Wammy-san...?"

"Yes L?" he said without hesitation.

"I've been feeling rather... off lately."

"I've noticed." He replied "You didn't eat nearly as many sweets yesterday as you would normally, and you seem rather downcast as well... is the depression setting in again?"

"No," L replied, still unsure, which was a foreign concept to him in and of itself "this is different." He stared at his hands where they gripped his knees, "I round-house kicked a boy in the jaw today."

Wammy looked up in surprise, his eyes meeting L's in the rearview mirror. "Don't you think that was rather unfair, L? What reason would you have to fight a civilian?"

"He and his friend sought me out for the purpose of ridiculing me in order to make up for their own insecurities, and ended up harassing Light. I didn't quite mean to kick him, it just sort of... happened." L trailed off helplessly, which was not a word usually used to describe him.

"And nothing like that has ever happened before? Not even on the Manchester Rapist case when you physically took down the perpetrator?"

"Not even then."

"Hmm" was all he said. L got the distinct feeling that he was keeping something to himself but found he had a hard time discerning what.

No wonder Mello always lashed out when things were kept from him. L found it extremely frustrating.

Whatever it was, Watari surely had his reasons for keeping it a secret. L simply hoped to figure it out before it became noticeable. Particularly to someone with keen insight. Such as Light.


	4. Netflix and Chill more like Cheesy Movie and... Murder?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Misa and Kiyomi drag L and Light to a movie

Light P.O.V.

Light's mind seemed an unending whirlwind as he walked home that day, though Ryuzaki seemed to be the eye of the hurricane as he attempted to make sense of his thoughts.

He had been acting strange even before the incident in the library... Though, to be fair, Light supposed he _had_ just broken into the principal's office and stolen confidential papers on murder victims...

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. It was reasonable for him to be acting so odd, but that didn't explain why he behaved so irrationally when he kicked that boy in the jaw.

Light could admit that their insults stung more than he let on, though coming from someone who had been on the wrong side of one of Ryuzaki's kicks before, he pitied the guy.

Light knew Ryuzaki to be rather stoic the majority of the time, and had never witnessed him react so strongly to anything before... despite only knowing him for a week, Light imagined Ryuzaki to be similar to himself in that regard. Especially considering the abuse he takes from Kiyomi every day, Light had expected him to simply smirk and come up with a clever come-back.

Light considered the possibilities as he turned down the familiar walkway that lead to the front of his house. The only thing that made sense was that Ryuzaki was... defending him.

That didn't seem like something Ryuzaki would do. He was no 'knight in shining armor' more like a wry poltergeist. One with a very dry and sarcastic sense of humor at that.

"Welcome home Light!" Sayu's energetic voice came from the kitchen along with the sound of the electric mixer. Light's curiosity got the better of him and he made the mistake of pushing open the door, only to get hit in the face by a puff of flour.

"Haha, I knew you wouldn't be able to resist peeking in." His little sister giggled, "I'm making cookies -"

She broke off as Light scooped a handful of flour from the bowl and launched it toward her.

"Oh it is ON MISTER!" She yelled as the grabbed the _entire bowl._

"Cease fire! Cease fire!" Light shouted, holding up a notebook to prevent the worst of the flour from hitting his tie, nearly sighing out loud with relief as she placed the bowl back on the counter top.

"Don't worry, I'd never mess up your precious hair Mr. Perfect" She teased him, sounding a heck of a lot like a certain someone who was still stuck on Light's mind. "Hey what's up? Did something happen?" Sayu asked, obviously having caught sight of his facial expression. She had always been adept at reading people, and listening to problems.

Light grudgingly told her everything, or at least everything he was comfortable telling her. Mainly that he had encountered derision at the hands of his classmates and that Ryuzaki kicked someone in the face.

"He kicked someone in the face?!" She repeated incredulously, "Because someone picked on you?"

"Yeah..." Light nodded reluctantly, "Well technically they were picking on both of us..."

"But this is the guy I met the other day right? When mom and I came to pick you up at school, he was the super skinny guy with the big ass head right?"

"Umm yeah, Sayu, although 'skinny guy with the big head' is a bit uncalled for don't you think?" Light frowned. Her face suddenly twisted into an expression that Light knew all too well, "Sayu - "

"Whatever Light," her smirk grew wider "But I better be invited to the wedding." she stuck her tongue out and turned back to her baking "I gotta finish these cookies before dinner, I'll bring you a tray when they're done so you better am-scray before I - "

It was at this point that Light was nearly to the foot of the stairs, having bolted the moment the contents of the flour bowl made contact with the back of her head.

"LIGHHTT!" Came her angry screech as he bolted his bedroom door shut.

Still smiling to himself, he fell back onto his bed, enjoying the sound of Sayu cussing from the kitchen.

**bzzt bzzzzt**

Rolling over onto his stomach, Light's smile died down as he read the text from Ryuzaki.

'Light, I apologize for what happened earlier. I let my emotions get the better of me, and behaved in an irrational way expected of a person much younger than myself. - R'

Rolling his eyes Light responded.

'Ryuzaki, why are you apologizing? You defended both of us... Maybe kicking him was a bit harsh, but you really don't have to apologize to me. - Y'

'Thank you Light. - R'

'You're welcome? Anyway, like I mentioned earlier, Misa and Kiyomi are dragging me to go see that new cheesy romance movie, do you think you can come? - Y'

'I can go, but I don't think I like the idea of 'cheesy romance'. Don't you think that could get a bit messy? - R'

'My mind is too innocent to comprehend whatever you're implying. - Y'

''Innocent' - R'

'Yes innocent. - Y'

'Whatever you say Light... - R'

'Weren't you apologizing a couple minutes ago? - Y'

'Yes, but this is more entertaining. - R'

'Bastard. - Y'

'Touché. - R'

Light smiled softly at this, Ryuzaki's readiness for an argument never ceased to amuse him.

"Light!" His mother's voice trailed up from the bottom of the stairs, "Come down for dinner!"

'Dinner's ready, I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow then? -Y'

'Yes, see you then. - R'

Still smiling to himself, Light stood and made his way downstairs to the inevitable abuse he was to endure at the hands of Sayu.

L P.O.V.

He walked slowly up to the bustling theatre, intently observing the daily commuters as they meandered up and down the busy street.

Japan always seemed to be packed to the brim, bulging at the seams; enough to make most people claustrophobic. L always enjoyed it though, not that he didn't miss England, but there was something about being in the teeming cities of Japan that made him feel less singled out. The more people means the more variety, and the more variety the less being 'different' mattered to anyone. It's not so much fitting in as it is not standing out.

As he approached the front of the theatre he spotted Light leaning up against the exterior of the building, looking nonchalant as usual.

"Hey Light" Ryuzaki greeted him as he leaned up against the stretch of wall beside Light.

"Hey Ryuzaki, Kiyomi and Misa are fashionably late as usual." he scoffed.

"Fashionably late? I didn't know one could be late in a fashionable way..."

At this Light just snorted softly and they waited in comfortable silence for the others to arrive. Misa came within the next couple minutes or so.

"LIIIGHT!" was the only warning that Light had before he was attacked by an overenthusiastic blonde.

With Misa hanging off his neck, Light turned to look at Ryuzaki out of the corner of his eye, letting him know that he wasn't the only one experiencing déjà-vu . L was seriously tempted to sneak away before Kiyomi appeared.

"Don't even think about it." Light said as if reading his mind.

Ryuzaki pretended to pout. "Fine, you're no fun."

"oh? I'd say Light is _very_ fun."

Takeda had finally arrived.

"Let's go inside shall we?" Light asked.

The rest mumbled their consent, so they made their way into the crowded theatre. They chose to sit in the way back, with Light in between Misa and Ryuzaki. Takeda somehow ended up in the aisle seat on Ryuzaki's other side and decided to send him sideways glares throughout the entire film.

L had the oddest urge to stick his tongue out at her, which is undoubtedly something Misa would have done in his position.

The whole movie experience wasn't too horrible. Well, the movie itself was awful; bad plot, cheesy lines, unrealistic romance, and not intellectually stimulating in any way shape or form... But Light helped make it bearable. They basically spent the whole movie poking fun at the characters and bad dialogue. L had a pretty good time, though Misa and Kiyomi seemed rather annoyed at the two of them. Apparently they had been dying to see this movie since the preview came out.

L didn't think he would never understand the whims of the average teenager.

Sooner than he would've liked, the movie ended and they all stood to leave. Commence several minutes of awkward shuffling and blinking as everyone exited the building into the nearly blinding light. He had almost forgotten it was still technically daytime while they were sitting in the dim theatre.

The four of them ambled along down the sidewalk, not really in any particular direction, just calmly strolling. It felt nice to act as a regular teenager for once, and L could have fooled himself into believing he actually was one for a moment or two.

"Hey we should go get something to eat, I could sure go for some frozen yogurt!" Misa suggested.

"Mmmm, sounds good." They all agreed and even Ryuzaki was all for the idea.

"Sure, hold on, I just have to check in with my mom." Light pulled out his phone and flipped it open.

He suddenly frowned then hit a couple buttons and lifted the phone to his ear.

L immediately became concerned at the look on his face "Ten missed calls from my mother..." he whispered holding his hand over the receiver as he spoke "She knew I was at the cinema, I hope nothing happened..."

Uh oh, Ryuzaki felt the beginning of nerves brewing in the pit of his stomach.

Light P.O.V.

Ten missed calls. Even if she had forgotten that he had gone out with friends, she would never have called so many times.

At this point Kiyomi and Misa had noticed that he had stopped walking and hurried back to us.

"Light?" Misa questioned, probably worried about him.

"It's my mom she - " He cut off as he heard his mother's voice through the earpiece.

"Light! Oh god, honey is that you?"

"Mom, hey yeah it's me... what - "

"Honey are you alright? Where are you?" She asked almost panicked sounding.

"Walking with my friends, the movie just got out."

"Oh good, you're all okay?"

"Yeah mom, we're fine."

"Good, Light I just got a call from your father, there's been another murder up at the school, he and the police task force have been called to the scene... You wouldn't answer your phone, god I was so worried..." she choked out nearly in hysterics.

"Mom, it's fine, we're all fine. Look, I have to go now, I'll be home in a little while, I'll call you if anything happens, okay?"

"Okay, just be safe Light!" She hung up, and Light lowered the phone from his ear and met the expectant eyes of his friends.

Ryuzaki looked worried and Light felt a strange twinge of guilt in the pit of his stomach.

"She's fine, but I think we're going to have to put our frozen yogurt plans on hold... There's been another killing up at the school." Misa gasped dramatically and Ryuzaki's eyes widened.

"Misa, Kiyomi," He looked at each of them "you two should go home, in fact we should probably all get off the street." He looked at Ryuzaki then, trying to get his message across.

"Yes, Light is right, I will call for a ride - do you two need a lift?" He asked the girls, they both shook their heads.

"I can call my parents for one, and Kiyomi is staying over at my house tonight anyway." Misa replied, "We should probably start walking though, see you guys! Be safe from serial killers!" she shouted at him and Ryuzaki as the two of them began walking away, Kiyomi waving goodbye over her shoulder.

"Should we really let them go off on their own like that?" Ryuzaki asked him.

"To be honest if the killer came upon the two of them, I'd be more worried for his safety than theirs." Light replied.

"True." he nodded "I assume that we're going to go investigate?"

"Of course" Light nodded "We just need a way to get there..."

"Hold on" he said and pulled out his phone, within seconds of dialing a voice picked up on the other end. "Hello Watari, could you give Light and I a lift to the high school? There has been an incident, and we need to get there as soon as possible. Thank you. We are just outside of the theatre, please hurry."

With that he shut the phone and began to walk back towards the cinema.

"Who is Watari?" Light questioned, quickening his pace to catch up to him.

"My guardian." he replied.

"Guardian?" Light wondered at his use of the term.

"Yes. My parents died when I was younger." Ryuzaki replied shortly. He didn't seem in the mood to discuss it, and Light wasn't about to pry, especially not now. He would get Ryuzaki to tell him eventually.

They reached the movie theatre, and sooner than Light had expected, a black car with tinted windows pulled up in front of the building. Ryuzaki did not hesitate to open the door and climb inside.

His... guardian, Watari, was a kind looking wizened old man who greeted them politely before pulling away from the curb. Watari drove like an insane person, weaving in and out of traffic and causing Light to grip his seat in fear for his life. Ryuzaki on the other hand seemed perfectly calm in his odd sitting position. He didn't even have his seatbelt on.

Wordlessly, Light leaned over and buckled him in, earning himself a strange look, but he ignored it. No way was Ryuzaki dying because of a car crash. Not on his watch.

"You know Light, Watari is an expert driver, he has never once gotten into an accident. I would trust him with my life." Ryuzaki defended his guardian.

"It's not him I don't trust." Light replied "I'm not going to allow you to die because of something as simple as not wearing a seatbelt." He glared out the window.

"Light-kun, you really do have a heart." Came the snarky reply, though Light noticed with smug satisfaction that he did not remove the protective belt.

"Shut up!" Light went to shove him when he noticed chuckling coming from the front of the car, and noticed a pair of silver eyes watching them through the rearview mirror.

 _Why does everyone look at us like that?_ Light thought confusedly, as they pulled into the school parking lot. Light turned to catch sight of the gaggle of people clustered around the school's flagpole, yellow police tape corralling them in.

As soon as the car stopped, Ryuzaki opened the door and attempted to jump out, getting caught in his seatbelt in the process. Light nearly fell out of the car laughing as Ryuzaki cursed at the buckle and then shut the door rather more vehemently than necessary.

As Light went to shut the car door, his eyes locked with Watari's.

"Thank you Light." He bowed his head, "Please try to be patient with him as he is not used to human interaction." He finished the request with a soft smile.

"I will." Light replied and shut the door quickly, feeling his face heat up. What did he mean by that?


	5. Unnecessary Gore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not posting the past few days! Just a quick warning, this chapter contains graphic depictions of gore and violence.

L's mind whirred with ideas as they approached the crime scene, which by that point was already crawling with police officers. He cursed inwardly for allowing himself to become distracted; if he hadn't been lollygagging around town with his new friends he would have been able to beat the cops, and survey the scene before they even arrived.

If there was one thing L couldn't stand, it was sharing his crime scenes with the civil servants in blue. He hated to admit it, but the whole situation would be much simpler if Light weren't there. If he had come on his own he would simply have to whip out his fake PSIA* badge, and the scene would be all his for as long as he wanted.

He glanced over to Light as he shut the car door and jogged over to where L was standing, an odd expression on his face.

If he did send Light away and pull out his fake ID, his cover would be in serious jeopardy... Light would certainly be suspicious, and he definitely wouldn't be able to go out with him and the others in public in case one of the officers on the scene recognized him... Though, as time ticked on it seemed like this was a risk he would have to take...

Before L could decide which action to take, Light's face broke into a smile and he quickly called out "Dad!" before racing towards the yellow police tape, grabbing Ryuzaki's hand and tugging him along. L nearly smacked himself as he remembered that Light's father was the Chief of police.

"Light, what are you doing here? It's not safe." His father frowned at him as they reached the group of people surrounding the flagpole. "And who is this?" he raised an eyebrow at their hands. Light had still not let go of Ryuzaki.

"Dad, this is Ryuzaki. He's a friend from school, Ryuzaki this is my father Chief Yagami of the Japanese police force." Light hastily introduced them, removing his hand from L's as he did so.

"It is nice to meet you Ryuzaki." Chief Yagami bowed his head.

"Likewise" He replied, bowing his head slightly in response.

" But you two really shouldn't be here... your mother would kill me, Light."

"But Dad" Light interjected "I'm almost in collage, and this case involves my classmates... what if Ryuzaki or Misa were the next victim?"

"Light, I can assure you -" L frowned, wondering why Light was so concerned for him, hadn't they already agreed that most of the victims looked like Misa? His clothing choices may be questionable, but that didn't mean he was anything like her... his concern only earned him a sharp elbow to the rib and a side glance that he took to mean "shut up Ryuzaki."

"Light, the fact that your classmates are being targeted is an even bigger incentive for me to keep you out of this... You will have plenty of chances to investigate crimes just like this one when you are old enough to actually join the force."

"Dad, I could really use the practice, and what's a couple more years in some classroom versus right now? I promise to stay out of it if you just let Ryuzaki and I poke around this scene a bit... please Dad?"

L watched, fascinated, as the resolve in Chief Yagami's eyes wavered. "Alright then, but just for a little while. And only because you've helped out on cases in the past. Just be careful. Both of you." He narrowed his eyes at L as though he didn't quite trust him, which L supposed was reasonable, considering they had just met.

"Great thanks Dad!" Light called as they ducked quickly under the police tape and made their way to where the body was propped up against the school's flagpole.

The sight was gruesome to say the least, and if L hadn't already had a lifetime of experience in the gross and unpleasant, he was sure he would have been sick to his stomach, at the very least.

Her eyes were incautiously gauged out and hung, swaying sickeningly, beside her cheekbones, still connected by the optical nerves. Her arms seemed to have deliberate slashes across specific muscles, and her throat was slit in such a way that she would have bled out slowly and rather painfully. There also appeared to be blood coming from a wound on her stomach, though her shirt hid the worst of it from view.

L attempted to mentally keep tabs of the things he noticed, as it would probably seem suspicious for him to take pictures. The blood was fresh, and still in liquid form, though not spreading in a way that would suggest her heart was still beating. She had probably died of blood loss and/or internal hemorrhaging only minutes before the police had gotten to her.

The lack of blood on the grass around her despite the long gashes on her arms, plus the spray of blood on the flagpole behind her neck... the kill obviously took place here but the torture elsewhere.

"Ryuzaki... she wasn't killed here. There isn't enough blood." Light whispered quietly enough so that the officers surrounding them wouldn't hear.

"Yes she was" L gestured to the blood on the pole "but you are right, this spot wasn't likely the intended kill spot."

"Did you notice the gashes on her arms - "

"Neatly severed the tendons. She wouldn't have been able to move her arms."

"But her legs - "

"Are intact, it is likely that after inflicting the wound on her stomach the killer made the mistake of believing her as good as dead, and she made a run for it. He probably caught up to her here and finished the job."

Light's eyes narrowed, "The eyes were done postmortem judging by the lack of blood on her face, do you think it could be a message?"

"Definitely" L frowned, "The fact that he left her out here instead of bringing her back inside to be found tells us that he is confident that he will not be caught, the eyes were just a spectacle of arrogance, conveying his assumption that we cannot see him even though he is right in front of us."

He could feel Light's thoughtful gaze boring into the side of his head, but he was on a roll, and didn't have time to consider Light's suspicions. He had a killer to profile, and things were starting to get exciting. L had always said that one could tell everything about a psychopath's character by how he murders his victims. This, was a perfect example of a classic, or what he had nick-named the 'Joker Complex' when there is no clear motive other than just for the fun of the kill.

L hated this kind the most... but even he had to admit, they were the most fun to catch.

"Ryuzaki, that was amazing..." Light smiled appreciatively, "are you sure about wanting to be a writer? We would make a great team."

The thought stuck L like ice poured down the front of his pants, and he blinked up at Light slowly, trying to ponder this and still keep sight of his original objective, "Yes... I believe we would..." he mumbled almost to himself, the two sides of his personality instantly at war with one another. L had never truly allowed himself to consider the possibility that there was someone in the world with whom he would work well.

Other than Near, he had always been the definition of "does not play well with others," at the Wammy's House. Even in a home for the most idiosyncratic geniuses the world had to offer, he had still stood apart.

"- have to get into the school." Light had continued talking, oblivious to Ryuzaki's contained existential crisis, and was eyeing the school building next to them.

"How do you suppose we do that?" He replied, pretending to have been listening.

"That's what I'm wondering... follow me." he glanced around to be sure they weren't being watched, and nonchalantly slipped around the corner toward the side entrance, leaving Ryuzaki to hurriedly catch up.

Light P.O.V.

As soon as they had slipped around the corner, Light broke into a jog and hurried up to the side door, chuckling to himself as Ryuzaki made a face at having to run to catch up with him. The only other time he had seen Ryuzaki run was during gym, and he hadn't seemed to enjoy it much then either.

Reaching the door, he quickly glanced around for bystanders or watchful cops before reaching up to feel along the top of the door for the spare key he knew would be there... Bingo. Light grabbed the key and unlocked the door as quickly and quietly as he could, shoving Ryuzaki through the opening and slipping in after him, shutting the door silently behind them.

"How the hell did you know that that key was there?" Ryuzaki asked incredulously "In fact, why is a key to the school there of all places?"

Light couldn't help the small smile that cracked his composure, "What? I can't know secrets about the school?" He couldn't help teasing him.

A year before, the early morning janitor had locked himself out of the building, and Light happened to be walking by as the principal instructed him to hide a spare key above the door to prevent that from reoccurring. Sure enough, the next day he checked, and the key had been there ever since.

Light smirked at the bewildered expression on Ryuzaki's face and decided to let him wonder... Besides, they had more important things to focus on.

It really only took five minutes of searching, the room had to have been on the ground floor if the killer only caught the escaped victim once she had reached the flagpole. There was no way she would have been able to run far with her injuries.

Cracking open the door to the biology classroom, Ryuzaki let out a small sigh and turned with an expression that told Light they had found the right room.

Eager to get it over with, Light walked past him into the empty space and was greeted by a scene straight out of a horror movie. Blood was everywhere, dripping down the walls, in small pools on the floor, even some sprayed in a sickening pattern across the ceiling. And the smell. Light thought he heard even Ryuzaki gagging.

"He certainly enjoys his craft." Ryuzaki said dryly with one hand clamped over his nose and mouth.

"Disgusting." Light wrinkled his nose, crouching by a pool of it on the floor by one of the laboratory tables, "How can someone do something like this? And to a teenage girl as well..."

"There are monsters in this world, Light." Ryuzaki replied quietly.

He turned to frown at him "Monsters?"

" Yes, Light, monsters. Monsters who cause trouble without showing themselves, monsters who abduct children, monsters who devour dreams, monsters who suck blood... and then, monsters who tell nothing but lies." He sighed and sat in one of the empty desks, curling his knees up to his chest in a child-like way, "Lying monsters are a real nuisance. They are much more cunning than others. They pose as humans even though they have no understanding of the human heart; they eat even though they've never experienced hunger; they study even though they have no interest in academics; they seek friendship even though they do not know how to love... This, is one of those monsters, and I will not stand for it, not now, not ever."

Wordlessly Light stood from his position beside the pool of blood, and walked over to where he was seated, watching as Ryuzaki's wide eyes followed him with a fire that he had never seen before.

Slowly, Light extended his hand to him, still without breaking eye contact, "Then let's take this monster down together, shall we?"

Ryuzaki stared up at him with an unreadable expression, and right then and there Light would have given anything in the world just to have been able to read the thoughts swirling around in that odd head of his. Without so much as blinking, he took Light's outstretched hand in his, stood up from the desk and led them silently over to where the blood was thickest.

"What do you see, Light?" He asked quietly, surveying the carnage before them.

Light however was still lost, deep in contemplation about what he had said about monsters and not standing for it and replied with something extremely intelligent along the lines of "Blood spatters."

The next thing he knew, Ryuzaki was doubled over and emitting an alarming breathy noise that had Light considering giving him the Heimlich Maneuver.

"Ryuzaki!" Light exclaimed in alarm, before realizing with a jolt that the noise was... laughter?

He was suddenly was hit by the realization that he had never heard Ryuzaki truly laugh before. Sure there was plenty of chuckling and snickering, but his actual laugh was rather... endearing. Sure enough, he quickly felt himself begin to smile, and before he had fully grasped the situation they were both on their knees in hysterics, their hands still joined between them.

"Blood... Spatters..." he gasped out "Light, you truly are a genius of unprecedented proportions..." this gained him a fresh peal of laughter from Light, and soon they were engulfed in a new fit of giggles.

To any onlookers they probably would have looked psychotic; two boys in their late teens holding hands and laughing hysterically before a room painted with the blood of their dead classmate... but to them, this moment they shared in that room of horrors was the true beginning of their story together, and the root cause of everything that happened later on. Not the killer, not Ryuzaki's enrollment in their school, not Misa's role as bait, but this moment that only the two of them would ever know about. A secret shared between two... soul-mates really.

Light had no way of knowing how long they were there on the floor, but after what felt like a life time their laughter died down to quiet smiles, and then as they remembered where they were, and what sat before them, the atmosphere became grim once again.

Silently, Light stood up, pulling Ryuzaki with him, and took a closer look at the scene.

"The blood is everywhere, on every surface, and the sprays seem erratic; random even, but extremely violent."

"My thoughts exactly." Ryuzaki agreed "So what we are looking for in a culprit, is a teacher -as we earlier suspected- who has keys to the school, most likely all four girls in his class, a surgeon's knowledge of slicing and arm muscle anatomy, and violent psychopathic tendencies." He summed up.

"Yep, though considering the use of the lab and the knowledge of laboratory tools, the teacher most likely teaches a science course." Light deduced.

"It is very likely. We should be able to compile a list of suspects by Monday." Ryuzaki stated, a look of determination on his face. "We should go back out there before your dad notices our absence. How much do you think we should tell him?"

"Just that we think the murder happened inside the building, they should find this room rather than some unsuspecting teacher."

"And how should we explain our absence?"

Light bit his lip, "We'll just have to say that seeing our classmate like that scared us and we had to take a walk to process what we saw... That sound good?" he suggested.

"Yes, that sounds fine." Ryuzaki replied.

They made their way back out of the building, a wordless agreement kept their hands connected, but before they rounded the corner of the building and into the line of sight of the police officers still on the scene, Ryuzaki pulled away.

"What?" Light frowned, studying his face, though it gave no hint as to his emotions.

"I saw how your father looked at us earlier," he edged back even further as Light began to protest, and shook his head, "Light, it's just easier this way, it's not as though we're anything but friends."

And with that he strode around the corner. As Light hurried to catch up with him, his stomach churned uncomfortably, and though he knew he was right, Ryuzaki's words still hurt for some reason. They reached the gathered officers, and Light's father hurried over, giving Ryuzaki a suspicious look, "Where did you two go? I was starting to worry."

Light found his irritation slowly building, "Dad, the sight of our classmate disfigured like that is enough to make most mature adults upset. We took a walk to calm down and came to the conclusion that due to the lack of blood around her she was most likely tortured somewhere other than here. We believe there is another crime scene somewhere in the school."

Chief Yagami's eyes widened in realization, and he turned to one of his younger officers, "Matsuda! Search the school, there may be another crime scene. Hurry up!" then he turned back to them, "Light, and Ryuzaki too, you two have helped tremendously with that idea, but you really should both go home now. Ryuzaki you are welcome to stay the night, but I want both of you safe indoors as soon as possible."

"Thank you Yagami-san, but I think I may go home now," Ryuzaki replied, "my guardian may worry." With that he bid Light a quick goodbye and walked away, pulling out his phone as he went.

"Light..." His father gave him a strange look, "I'm going to drive you home now. Please don't argue."

Light just shook his head numbly, too tired to put up a fight.

The car ride home was peaceful, but as he opened the car door, Soichiro stopped him, "Light, whatever is going on between you and.. Ryuzaki, just please be careful, I don't want to see you hurt."

"Okay dad." Light frowned in confusion, but made his way to the house, too wrapped up in his own mind to take a guess as to what his father had meant by that. There would be time enough for that tomorrow.

L P.O.V.

The car ride back to the apartment with Watari was driven in silence. As soon as they walked through the door however, L turned and wrapped his arms around his father-figure; something he hadn't done in years.

"R-Ryuzaki... L..." he said startled, but still hugged him back "please explain from the beginning."

And so he did, all the way down to the hand holding, and his petulant comment behind the school building about their friendship, "- I just want to know why this is happening to me. If this is what it's like to have friends, I don't know why anyone bothers."

Watari simply sighed, "Hopefully you will understand soon," he said, and then added, after recognizing the look on L's face, "I know what will cheer you up though..."

"What?" L frowned.

"There is ice cream in the freezer and chocolate syrup in the fridge."

Despite his continued inner turmoil, L felt the tension in his mind relax, if only a bit.


	6. Alfredo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> L and Light come up with a plan as to how they are going to catch their killer. L is invited over for dinner at the Yagami's. Sayu happens.

L P.O.V.

After the incident at the school on Saturday L spent the rest of the weekend sequestered in his room researching the background of every teacher and staff member currently in employment at the school in order to compile a list of possible suspects before classes on Monday.

So far three teachers stood out among the rest.

Mr. Juuzo was the prime suspect, considering that it was his biology lab in which the girl's blood was found; not to mention that he used to teach an elective class on muscle anatomy, and had taught three out of the four victims.

Second in line was Ms. Ackerman, the headmaster. Although she was not male, nor a science teacher, she had apparently studied to be a surgeon before an incident in her later years of college that caused her to switch majors in favor of teaching. The college couldn't manage to uncover any lasting information on the incident however, which L found to be exceedingly suspicious.

The third and final suspect was Mr. Ohba, his and Light's homeroom teacher. Mr. Ohba taught literature, and had written a popular manga series based on gruesome murder mysteries. Considering this, L added him to the suspect list as an afterthought.

He and Light had made an agreement to each come up with their own suspect lists, and compare them to see which teachers were most suspected of being the killer. After school that day they were to meet at Light's house in order to furnish a final plan of action. L had to admit, he was rather curious to see what Light's house would be like, though he had heard from Misa that Light's sister Sayu was a piece of work.

Monday went by in a blur; Misa was loud and vivacious, Kiyomi was cold and snarky. Everything as per usual. Once the final bell had rung, they met in front of the building, each eager to work on the case.

"Hey Ryuzaki, ready?" Light laughed as Ryuzaki startled out of his reverie. He had been leaning up against the side of the building deep in thought as he waited for Light.

"Ready as ever."

They began walking in silence, but eventually lapsed into casual conversation; both subconsciously avoiding the topic of what had happened Saturday until they got to planning. L could tell something was off between them, and it had been all day, though he couldn't seem to figure out for the life of him what it was. Was it that comment he had made behind the school?

Ryuzaki pondered this as he vaguely listened to Light chatter on about some case involving L that he had read about. He thought it was the one in Manchester a couple years back.

No, he didn't even know what he was saying then, they were both tired and had been in a room filled floor to ceiling with their murdered classmate's blood. Anyone would be a bit off. Maybe he was traumatized? L bit his lip as his thoughts argued back and forth.

Only, Light didn't really seem traumatized; if anything he just appeared to be even more motivated than before. This 'thing' that was off between them had to be something more personal. He was determined to get to the bottom of it. Ryuzaki was starting to really enjoy Light's company as a friend, and he couldn't even put into words how nice it was having another genius his age.

"Ryuzaki?" Light asked suddenly.

"Yes Light?" He asked, startled once again out of his thoughts.

Light just started at him for a moment, "Nothing, you were just zoning out again."

"I'm sorry." It had really become a problem lately. Even Watari had started to notice.

"It's fine, were you thinking about what happened on Saturday as well?" He frowned, addressing his question to the sidewalk. 

"Yes." Ryuzaki replied quietly. He and Light always seemed to be on the same train of thought, and recently they had almost seemed to be able to read one another's minds.

"You were more subdued today than usual." He noted, and L didn't bother to respond.

He supposed he had been a bit gloomy the past two days. He still hadn't been able to figure out what was wrong with him, and Watari refused to acquiesce to his insistence that he simply explain what was happening. Perhaps he could ask Light.

"I have just been feeling a bit off lately." He replied reluctantly.

"Because of what happened?" He asked.

L hesitated before shaking his head; "I don't think so."

"Well is it because of what happened between us?" Light asked reluctantly, finally meeting Ryuzaki's eyes.

"Between us?" L frowned. He knew his comment behind the school had been uncalled for... but did he think they were arguing? "You mean what I said... "

"Yes and no." Light bit his lip, "I mean what happened between us when we were in that room. That, and what you said afterward."

"Light... I didn't really mean anything by it. I was tired, just incredibly tired of people always dying, of people always judging, and tired of this role." L didn't quite know what he had meant by 'role.' Whether it meant his role at the school, or in life, but he realized then that he truly was tired. The only problem was that he didn't really know quite how to wake himself up.

"Role?" Light asked.

Whoops. Seriously, what was going on with him lately?

"I don't know." L sighed miserably. "I don't know, and I hate not knowing things."

"Hey," Light said, bumping him lightly with his shoulder as they walked along the sidewalk. "I hate not knowing things too, but sometimes we just have to deal with it. Because if we can't, then that's when we have a problem."

Oddly enough, this helped, and L found the tension slowly draining from his mind.

"Maybe working on the case will help take your mind off of things." He added. "Plus Sayu just made another batch of cookies, I bet we can get away with stealing at least half."

This really made him feel better.

Light smiled softly as he noticed Ryuzaki's expression brighten, "Hey we're almost there." He said as they turned the corner onto a quiet street.

Light P.O.V.

He was becoming increasingly worried about Ryuzaki. He seemed to be even more reserved than usual, and something told Light that it wasn't the sight of their murdered classmate that had him down.

Why was he so bad at reading him? Often times it was almost as if they could listen in on each other's thoughts, but then once it came to stuff like this, Ryuzaki's head suddenly seemed like an unsolvable equation.

Light pondered this as they arrived at his house. Opening the front door, he shed his shoes and lead Ryuzaki into the living room where his mother and Sayu were glued to some brain rotting reality show.

"Ahem" Light cleared his throat, attempting to pry their attention away from the television. "Mom, Sayu, this is Ryuzaki. We're going to go work on some school work upstairs, so if you need anything just call us down, okay?"

"Alright then," Sachiko smiled, "Hello Ryuzaki, it's nice to meet you."

"Likewise." He replied, bowing his head respectfully.

"Hi." Sayu waved absently, thankfully too engrossed in their program to think of teasing them.

"Come on," Light muttered, leading Ryuzaki out of the living room and into the kitchen. "They're watching reality TV, they won't notice if an elephant runs through the room." Light rolled his eyes, nabbing the container of cookies as he did, "Jackpot."

Ryuzaki gave him a wry smile in return. "I must say Light, your thievery skills really are superb."

"Shut up." Light smirked at him, sliding half of the cookies onto a plate and replacing the container back in the cupboard.

They made their way up the stairs and made sure to shut the door behind them, Ryuzaki immediately snatched a cookie off the plate. "Mmff, these 'r relly gud lite." he mumbled through a mouthful of cookie. Light couldn't help but laugh at him. He looked like a chipmunk, perched on his bed with his knees to his chest in the usual bizarre position, his cheeks filled with chocolate chip deliciousness.

"I didn't make them, Sayu did; but thanks anyway." Light replied, still laughing.

Ryuzaki swallowed with difficulty and crawled over to the edge of the bed to grab his bag. Pulling out a few crumpled papers he motioned to Light's bag, "Do you want to get started then?"

"Sure." Light retrieved his own papers, plus a cookie, and took a seat at his desk as Ryuzaki had claimed the bed.

"Suspect number one," he said holding up a finger, "Mr. Juuzo. Suspect number two, Ms. Ackerman. Suspect number three, Mr. Ohba."

Light arched an eyebrow, although at this point he really shouldn't have been that surprised, they really did think exactly alike.

"I had all of the same suspects." Light held up his sheet, "But I had one more, Mr. Obata."

"Mr. Obata the art teacher? Oh, of course... he worked on the detective manga with Mr. Ohba." Ryuzaki nodded thoughtfully.

"So I guess we have our list then." Light reshuffled his papers, "That was extremely easy."

"Yes, but how do you suppose we catch the killer?" Ryuzaki raised an eyebrow.

"Well, we may have to use Misa as bait, unless we can figure out which one of them is the culprit on our own... But I don't know if we should come up with a plan now, or wait until we've narrowed it down a bit more..." Light tapped the end of his pen against his lips thoughtfully.

"I believe we should watch each of the teachers and investigate them individually."

"That might take too long."

"True..." Ryuzaki thought for a moment, "maybe we could split up and each take two?"

Light felt oddly disappointed at the thought of working separately, but he supposed if it was for the good of the case... "Sure why not? That would cut the time needed for investigation in half."

"Yes, it would..." Ryuzaki seemed to be studying him with an odd expression.

"So when do you think we should tail them?" Light asked.

"Well we know that the killer works mostly on the weekends, so I'd suggest we spend Saturday tailing our two prime suspects; Mr. Juuzo and Ms. Ackerman, and then spend Sunday tailing Mr. Ohba and Obata."

Light nodded, "Sounds like a plan."

"Remember Light, if one of them begins acting suspiciously, we retreat and contact each other immediately. We cannot take any chances of one of us being hurt." His gaze suddenly became intense.

"Okay, okay, don't worry." Light frowned, "Once we spot one of the teachers acting out of character then we should come up with a more specific plan suited to catching the person."

"Yes, I believe we could use Misa to entice our killer... but only as a last resort." He said.

"Yeah, I don't want to put Misa in unnecessary danger..." Light rubbed the back of his neck, feeling guilty about wanting to use her as killer bait.

They sat in silence for a moment, Light couldn't be sure of what Ryuzaki thought about all of this, but he was starting to become excited, this was after all his first case on his own.

"Light." Ryuzaki waved a hand through the air.

"Yeah?"

He smirked, "Now who's daydreaming?"

"Shut up." Light rolled his eyes, grabbing another cookie to hide the smile gracing his lips. "You're right, these are really good."

They sat munching in comfortable silence until Sayu came knocking on the door.

"Light? I need help with my math homework again." She called through the door.

Light rolled his eyes affectionately and shot an apologetic glance at Ryuzaki, who was still perched on the bed. If anything, he seemed to be amused rather than annoyed, so Light stood and let her in.

Poking her head through the door, Sayu smirked and quipped "Oh good, I thought you guys were making out or something." And with that she innocently flounced over to the desk and plopped down with her textbook.

Light could feel his face heat up as he walked over to help her, shooting an annoyed glance at Ryuzaki as he caught his derisive snicker. Damn smug bastard.

Leaning over the desk Light took a look at the work she had already managed to finish. "That one's wrong... and that one..." Light pointed out all of the ones she had messed up, which were most of them.

"Well I know that, captain obvious, why do you think I asked for help?" She snarked up at him, and Light marveled at the amount of sarcasm compressed into her small form.

"Maybe I could be of assistance," Light nearly jumped as he heard Ryuzaki's voice in his ear as he leaned over the desk as well. Their hips touched and Light momentarily forgot how to speak.

When he began to help Sayu with her homework Light simply watched on, surprised at how patient he was being. Normally by that point he would be struggling to refrain from strangling her.

After a couple minutes, Sayu exclaimed "Oh! I got it!" and hopped off the desk chair. "Thanks Ryuzaki!"

He smiled at her, "No trouble really."

"You're a much better teacher than Light is."

"Hey!" He protested, but she just ignored him and grabbed her stuff, heading to the door.

"Hey Light, mind if I borrow your boyfriend during the final exam?" She laughed .

"Sorry Sayu, but I think Light needs me more than you do... he's terrible at calculus." He teased.

"I'll have you know I'm top of the class in calculus." Light protested, turning to glare at him.

"You were." He smirked, "Until I showed up."

"Hahaha I think I'll just leave you two to it then." She shot Light a sarcastic wink and took her leave.

The door shut behind her and Ryuzaki flopped back down on the bed, grabbing yet another cookie from the diminished plate.

"Great, now my sister thinks we're dating..." Light sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "You didn't exactly help with that."

"Calm down Light, I'm sure she'll realize that we're not an actual couple in due time." He said nonchalantly.

"I suppose you're right," Light sighed yet again, sinking down onto the bed beside him, "You're strangely good with kids though, I never would have expected."

"I'm used to them, I have lived in an orphanage for most of my life." he replied, seeming nonplussed.

Light stared at him, wondering how he could say that like it was nothing. "I forgot that your parents passed away..." He muttered, still staring.

"Yes, well, I don't remember them much, and Watari has been a more than sufficient guardian." He replied, "It's not such a bad thing."

"But Ryuzaki, they were your parents..."

"And now so is Watari." He replied firmly, his gaze steady as his eyes met Light's

Their proximity to one another suddenly became quite apparent to Light; though he wouldn't exactly call it uncomfortable.

"Ryuzaki, you know you can always come here... if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here." The already diminutive space between them became increasingly smaller, though neither of them really seemed to notice, "And, you know I think Sayu has certainly taken a liking to you as well..."

"Hmm." he hummed in response "I might just have to take you up on that offer sometime, Light."

Light suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine, their noses were practically touching at this point, but he was too lost in his eyes to comprehend anything else.

"Light! Sayu! Your father is home, come down for dinner!" His mother's call came from the base of the staircase.

They quickly sprang apart, overturning the plate on his bed that, by that point, was thankfully devoid of cookies.

"Ahem." Light cleared his throat after an uncomfortable silence, "I should probably go downstairs... Would you like to stay for dinner?" He nearly winced at the awkwardness pervading the room, trying and failing to ignore the metaphorical elephant taking up the majority of the room.

"I don't have anywhere else to be." he replied nonchalantly.

Light, for once, wasn't sure what else to say, so he simply led the way back downstairs and into the kitchen.

"Hey mom, do you mind if Ryuzaki stays for dinner?"

"Sure honey, Ryuzaki you're welcome anytime." She smiled at him.

"Thank you, that is quite generous of you." he replied courteously.

As they all sat down at the table, his father entered the room.

"Ah! Is that your famous Fettuccine Alfredo I smell -" he trailed off when he caught sight of Ryuzaki perched on the chair beside Light.

"Oh hello dear," his mother greeted him, "Light's friend from school is staying for dinner. Isn't that nice?"

"Yes, yes, hello again Ryuzaki," Soichiro nodded at him and extended a hand. "I don't believe we met under the best conditions, hopefully this time will be better." he laughed good naturedly.

Ryuzaki shook his hand, "Yes, a meal would be much preferable to the events from our previous meeting." he replied smoothly.

"Quite articulate I see," Soichiro nodded as if giving his approval.

"I would hope so."

Light tensed at hearing Ryuzaki's signature sarcastic tone, but his dad simply laughed it off.

"I believe you and Light are a good match." He said, glancing over, "If anyone could out-sass Light, I hope it will be you."

"He certainly tries." Light muttered, sending him a sideways smirk, which he didn't hesitate to return.

"I believe you mispronounced 'succeeds' as my sarcastic level is far beyond anything a mere mortal such as yourself could perceive."

"Well now you're just showing off."

"Obviously."

"Get a room you two, I'm trying to eat here." Sayu pretended to barf from across the table.

"Sayu!" Sachiko scolded her while Soichiro simply did his best to look impassive.

And that was how the rest of dinner played out; a snarky comment, an exchange of wits between Light and Ryuzaki, and Sayu with an ending quip.

When dinner was over, he was stuck with dish washing, and Ryuzaki offered to help out.

"You really don't have to, you are the guest after all."

He didn't reply but to grab a towel and begin to dry the clean dishes.

Soichiro P.O.V.

"Come on you have to have seen it too." Sachiko was saying, as they watched Light and Ryuzaki washing dishes from the hallway.

"I thought I had seen it back at the crime scene but I am nearly 100% certain now." Soichiro frowned.

"Oh my baby boy..." Sachiko murmured, as small smile playing on her lips as she watched the two of them launching soap suds at one another.

"Sachiko..."

"Soichiro." She glared up at him, "We will accept Light no matter what... or should I say who, he chooses." she turned and smiled again at the two boys.

Deep down, Soichiro knew he would love his son no matter what... but he wasn't so sure he could accept this as his choice...


	7. Oh

L P.O.V.

The visit to Light's house had gone differently than he expected. Not that he was complaining necessarily, since it was a rather enjoyable occasion, but he hadn't exactly anticipated staying for dinner or getting to know Light's parents. He was starting to become attached to Light... dangerously attached.

L cursed himself inwardly as he bit his thumbnail. He should have known better than to let someone else in... no... that wasn't right... He hadn't just let Light in, he had bloody thrown the gates open!

 _It's not his fault._ L reasoned with himself, pacing holes in the carpet beside his bed, _if he knew who you really are..._ he stopped pacing.

If Light had known who he really was, Light would have tried that much harder to become his friend. Usually it was the opposite. It took many a bribe to even coerce most normal detectives to work with L through a computer; but here was Light Yagami, high school extraordinaire practically worshiping the great "L" as a god.

 _Light Yagami who willingly became friends with the quirky new student._ He shook his head vigorously to expel unnecessary thoughts.

 _That's beside the point._ His feet found their way to the refrigerator, _You are too close to Light Yagami._

His heart sank, even as he reached for his favorite treat, strawberry cake.

"L." Came a stern voice from the darkness somewhere to his left.

Jumping, L dropped the slice of cake and it landed with a sickening 'splat' on the floor by his feet. Staring down forlornly at the mess before him, L addressed the voice from the void; "I did not hear you there, Wammy-san."

"I can see that." He replied with a sigh, "You are becoming less vigilant as of late."

"I was just hungry for a midnight snack." L stated, ignoring the comment about his vigilance, or lack thereof.

"Are you quite alright?" He seemed worried now.

L sighed, not only was he compromising the case, but now also causing stress for one of the few people who actually cared for him.

"Would you like to talk about it?" He suggested.

Wordlessly, L ambled over to the couch and curled up in his usual position, Watari sitting opposite him across the coffee table. The splatter of cake lay forgotten on the kitchen floor. They sat in silence for a moment, before L realized that he would have to be the one to initiate the conversation.

"Light and I..." he hesitated, wondering why he had chosen to word it like that, "We are becoming too close to one another."

"I see." He nodded, "And why do you believe that you are 'too close'? Can you not allow yourself to have a friend?"

"No... it's not that I don't want to, it's that I can't. Watari, you should know why." L nibbled on his bottom lip.

"You believe that it will in some way endanger him. No to mention the fact that he cannot know your true identity... Well it seems you have gotten yourself in quite the pickle."

"Yes..."

"Why not just push him away? Make him believe you do not wish to be his friend?" He suggested carefully, as though bracing for L to react adversely.

"You are right, as ever Wammy-san. That is what I should do." _Why didn't he want to?_

"I would not say should."

L glanced over in confusion, "But you just said-"

"I realize what I said, but Ryuzaki, Light is your first friend. I do not wish for you to pass up an opportunity like this."

"Opportunity for what?" L asked, fatigued. He was starting to become uncharacteristically tired.

"Happy." He stated simply, and, catching the dubious look on L's face he corrected, "Truly happy. Not just the happiness you experience when around your successors, but the happiness of having an equal. A Yin to your Yang per say."

L's chest began to ache once again, "So you're saying I shouldn't push Light away? That we should become closer?"

"Whatever you feel is right." He nodded, "But for now you need to get some rest, you look as if you are about to keel over."

He swayed a bit as he stood, nearly falling to the floor with exhaustion.

"When was the last time you slept?"

"Three or four?"

"Three or four what?"

"Days."

He nearly laughed out loud as Watari came very close to face-palming. Instead he settled for pointing towards his room, "Bed. Now. I will clean up the cake, you need to sleep."

L decided to acquiesce without resistance, since he had already been close to collapsing, and plodded down the hall to his room, collapsing into the soft, warm bed and falling asleep almost instantly.

Watari P.O.V.

The old man shook his head as he watched his adoptive son walk unsteadily to his room.

He had been starting to think L would never realize.

Of course he had seen it from the start; L never had anyone his age who could match his genius as perfectly as Light did. And after meeting him Wammy believed he could say the same for Light.

It was only natural for them to develop feelings for one another; though Wammy could only guess how long that would take. From watching their interactions in the car the other day, it would seem they already had.

He couldn't fathom how Light was reacting to this, but L was certainly baffled as to what was truly going on. He just hoped that this would end well for L, lord knew he needed it.

Light P.O.V.

It had been a couple weeks since his meeting with Ryuzaki; since then they had spent every weekend tailing their suspects and so far they had nothing.

Ms. Ackerman was nearly OCD in her habits, every Saturday morning it was the same; leave the house at 6:30, drive to Starbucks for coffee, and arrive at the school at 7 to supervise weekend sports training. Around noon she would go to the gym for an hour, then to the bank, and home by 2 in the afternoon to complete paperwork or whatever else a teacher does on their time off.

Every Sunday it was Mr. Ohba... who barely ever left his house.

This stakeout gig was not all it was chalked up to be.

Ryuzaki wasn't having much luck either; Mr. Juuzo's habits were quirky at best, though not incriminating. And Mr. Obata was much like Mr. Ohba, rarely leaving the house and basically keeping to himself.

Unless anything out of the ordinary happened that particular day, they had agreed to meet up again and come up with a better plan of attack; this simply wasn't working. Luckily though, something did happen.

'Bzzzt' Light's phone chimed with a text from Ryuzaki;

Mr. Juuzo, off on another adventure. - R

Light smiled and rolled his eyes at the sarcastic tone, detectable even through text.

Oh? Where to now? Ms. Ackerman as rigidly scheduled as ever. - Y

I'm not sure... I'll update you when we get there. - R

Alright. - Y

This was how it had been every weekend, mind numbing boredom with intermittent texts to one another.

 _Well, there she goes._ He thought sarcastically as Ms. Ackerman pulled out of her driveway at precisely 6:30. He followed her at a safe distance driving his mother's car, which he had borrowed under the pretense of seeing a film with Misa and Ryuzaki.

She turned into the Starbucks drive through - as per usual - though this time, rather than pulling into the line she swerved at the last second, parking in an empty space. Curious, Light took a risk and parked in a space a couple down from her, carefully watching through the passenger side window.

She had her phone to her ear, and was speaking into the receiver in hushed tones, and anxious expression on her face. A few moments later she hung up and stepped out of her car. Light quickly ducked his head as she looked around, as though she expected to be followed, and then took off down the side walk, leaving her car in the Starbucks parking lot. Light jumped out of his vehicle and jogged after her, pulling up his hood for cover and slowing down to match her brisk pace once he was a suitable distance from her.

As walked, he typed out a message for Ryuzaki;

Ms. Ackerman acting suspicious... tailing her on foot. - Y

He placed the phone back in his pocket, not wanting to become distracted. After tailing her for about two blocks, she suddenly stopped at a seemingly random bus stop and sat on the stone bench next to a little old lady. Light hid around the corner of a building a couple yards away, stealing himself to get closer.

 **bzzzt bzzzt bzzzt** His phone buzzed in his pocket, nearly causing him a premature heart attack.

"Damnit damnit" Light cursed, fumbling with his phone, trying to set it to silent before Ms Ackerman overheard. He sighed in relief once it was set to silence and hit 'Accept' to the incoming call.

"Ryuzaki you nearly-"

"Light!" Ryuzaki's angry voice cut his off, "What happened to the plan?!"

"What do you mean? I'm tailing the prime suspect!" Light whispered indignantly, feigning ignorance.

"You know full well what I mean. We agreed that should any of the suspects start acting suspiciously that we would step back and rendezvous before following them! Do you have any idea how much danger you could be in right now?"

"Ryuzaki I'm fine, and just because my suspect is acting a bit strange doesn't mean she's an actual killer. And if you want to know where I am then you could just ask..."

After a loaded pause he sighed deeply, "Do you have everything under control?"

"Yes." Light replied.

"Do you need me to be there?"

"Not really, I think I've got it under control here."

Another deep sigh, "Alright, I'm going to hang up, but just promise me you won't do anything too reckless?"

"I promise. And I'll even keep up with you through text the whole time so you know I'm okay."

"Thank you." He hung up.

Light took the phone away from his ear, staring at the screen for a second. He wondered why Ryuzaki had gotten so irritated by his decision, but he supposed anyone would be worried if their friend went chasing after criminals without them.

Peeking around the corner he was relieved to see that the bus had not come yet, and Ms. Ackerman was still within sight. Slipping from his position behind the corner of the building, Light pulled his hood up further, moving to position himself casually behind where Ms. Ackerman was seated on the bench.

Leaning in closer he noticed her mouth moving as though she was carrying out a conversation. Confused, he glanced at the old woman sitting next to her on the bench, who seemed to be reading a knitting magazine. Ms. Ackerman must have been using some sort of Bluetooth, but Light couldn't seem to catch sight of one.

After a few minutes of waiting, the bus finally rumbled to a stop before the three of them, it's doors opening with a slight hiss. Light waited until both Ms. Ackerman and the old woman had ascended the steps to board the bus. Handing his change to the driver, he took a seat directly behind the suspect, careful to not let her see his face.

Once the bus started to move, Light reached for his phone and sent a quick text to Ryuzaki before he felt the need to call again.

On the bus with the suspect. Heading downtown. - Y

Barely thirty seconds later his phone displayed his response;

That's where Juuzo and I are right now... perhaps we will run into one another. - R

 _Hopefully._ Light thought, watching Ms. Ackerman out of the corner of his eye.

They rode the bus for a good twenty minutes, stopping once in a while to let off various passengers, one of which was the old woman who had gotten on with them. Just as they were going on twenty five minutes aboard the bus, she reached up, hit the stop button, and maneuvered her way to the front of the bus, Light close behind her.

When they got off Light feigned the opposite way from her, just to throw her off should she suspect him of following, but as soon as she rounded the corner he rushed to keep up, turning the bend and running smack dab into her. She evidently had been waiting for him.

"Why are you following me?!" She hissed, then pulled his hood down and froze; an astonished look spreading across her features.

"Light? Light Yagami?"

"Oh, hello Ms. Ackerman." He turned on his best Star Pupil smile, and feigned innocent surprise, "I didn't even notice that was you on the bus."

"Mr. Yagami, care to explain why you have been tailing me all morning?" She glared at him, and he knew there was no getting out of this one.

"I-"

She cut him off with a hand to his mouth as the other went to her ear.

"Suspect incoming." She muttered, and pulled Light around the corner of the building, craning her neck at something he couldn't see.

Thoroughly confused, he edged around her to see none other than Mr. Juuzo pacing on the other side of the street. Peering into the distance behind him Light could just make out Ryuzaki watching him from around a corner. What the hell was going on?

Light quickly pulled out his phone to update him, but Ms. Ackerman grabbed his hand, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Calling my dad to tell him that I'm going to be late." he quickly lied.

"You didn't answer my question from before. Why are you following me?"

"I wasn't, I'm supposed to be heading to my cousin's house. He lives right down this street." He mentally crossed his fingers that she bought that, because he had not been remotely prepared for something like this.

"Fine. Go." She pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration "But no one hears of this, do you understand? No one."

"Yes, okay, I understand." He said quickly, edging around her and hurrying down the sidewalk, praying that Juuzo would not catch sight of him.

Ryuzaki clearly did, as Light's phone began to vibrate against his leg with an incoming call. Not daring to answer it out in the open, he ducked into a doorway once he was certain Ms. Ackerman was out of sight.

"Ryuzaki." He answered the ringing phone.

"Light? Where is Ms. Ackerman?"

"Trailing Mr. Juuzo."

"What?"

"I'll explain later, just meet me at the closest bus stop."

L P.O.V.

An FBI agent. How could he have missed this? How could Aiber have missed this? How could Watari have missed this.

L was pacing - for what seemed like the hundredth time that week- in front of the computer in his room.

"When I came to you a month ago and informed you that I would be placing a high level detective among your students, did you not think to inform us of your FBI status?" Watari was asking, L could hear him through the audio device hidden in his jacket pocket.

"Yes it did occur to me. However I am here undercover, I am sure that your 'high level detective' can understand the concept of secrecy." She quipped back at him.

Picking up the microphone L requested that Watari ask about her incident in college.

"...Oh that." She sounded suddenly apprehensive, "I was caught hacking into the FBI database, and was told that I could either join the feds or be expelled. I'm sure you can surmise which option I chose."

Hacking into confidential FBI files at college age? L made a mental note to remember her for assistance in a future case... Not the point at hand.

Watari cleared his throat, "An impressive feat at such a young age."

She gave a short chuckle.

"May I ask for what purpose you are undercover?"

"As long as it is kept between us and your "high level detective," because I do believe we may be able to help each other out."

"Yes. I believe so as well."

"My purpose for being here is to tail Mr. Suzuya Juuzo, an ex FBI agent who went rogue a few years back. When he was fired from the agency he accepted a teaching job at this school, since he had had some connections from a past case; I was assigned to make sure he didn't harm any of the students, since he and I had worked in separate departments and had never met before the time of his leave." she sighed "And then the killings began and, naturally, he was my first suspect."

"He was the first suspect of myself and Ryuzaki as well." Watari replied.

"And I am to assume that was why Light Yagami was tailing me earlier." Her tone conveyed anger, "You hired the son of a head detective to do your work for you?"

L fumbled for the microphone then: "Watari, don't -"

"Yes."

Damn it. What is he thinking? If Light's father ever found out he was working on the investigation...

"We asked Mr. Yagami if he would want to assist us on the case, and he accepted the offer."

"Do you have any idea what a danger that could be to a civilian? Tailing a murderer?" Ackerman asked incredulously.

"Yes. And I take full responsibility for this mistake."

Another deep sigh, "It doesn't matter anymore, HQ is calling me back to America now that I've been found out. I suppose that it's up to your detective to solve the case now."

"I am sure the school is sorry to see you go." Watari offered his condolences.

"It's quite alright, it was getting a bit boring around here anyway. There are a few things you should know though before I leave; firstly, they are not sending a replacement, because despite my protests on the matter there are simply not enough agents to spare at the moment, not to mention the fact that Juuzo has been inactive for several years now."

"That is-"

"Secondly," She cut him off sternly, "I have reason to believe that Mr. Juuzo is not the killer."

"How do you suppose this?"

"Oh I believe your detective will find out in time," She said flippantly, "I'm not allowed to disclose any more information regarding the matter. You should probably go now, I have things to pack."

L could hear the two of them stand up and exchange goodbyes to one another.

"Oh and Mr. Watashi," as was Watari's current alias, "Be sure to send Ryuzaki my regards."

And with that the door shut.

"Watari..." L muttered.

"My apologies Ryuzaki, I should have known her file was fake, and Mr. Juuzo's as well." He spoke into the microphone as he headed back out of the building.

"No no, it's not your fault, I was not expecting something like this on such a low level case..."

"I will commence a second, this time more thorough, background check on everyone in the district immediately." Good, they had made enough mistakes on this case already, it was time to truly get down to business.

"Thank you." L mumbled.

"Of course. You may want to call Light, I'm sure he's worried about you."

"What for? After we got back we both headed straight home. He said he needed to think about what had happened."

"Are you implying he hasn't been texting you for the past hour?"

"How did you-"

"Trust me."

And with that his microphone clicked off and L was left to his own deductions, wondering for the umpteenth time what it was that Watari knew that he did not.

What _did_ he know that L did not? No, what would he be able to detect that L could not?

Deductions were his specialty, but this was different. What was the one field that L had almost no experience in...

Oh.


	8. Sleepover Part 1

Light P.O.V.

Light lay flat on his bed, quickly typing out a message on his phone.

'Ryuzaki? I know. I get it. You're mad at me for earlier... Well I'm sorry okay? I'm sorry for going off on my own, I'm sorry for not telling you, and I'm sorry she caught me... Please just text me back. - Y'

It had been an hour since he had started texting Ryuzaki, and since then Light had started to feel truly guilty about going off on his own.

 _Damnit Ryuzaki..._ Light thought as he didn't answer for the tenth time. _That's it, I'm calling him._

Just as he pulled up Ryuzaki's contact information, the phone chimed with a message.

'Sorry, I was a bit preoccupied. I'm not mad, Light, why should I be? -R'

He hastily replied, 'Because I went off on my own without contacting you first. - Y'

'You and I both know I would have done the same. -R'

'You better not, I would have an epileptic fit. - Y'

'How do you think I felt? -R'

'...Sorry -Y'

'Don't be, we've been over this. -R'

'Right... Would you like to talk about what happened? -Y'

'Yes, I think that that would be best... would you like to come over to my apartment? - R'

'Now? - Y'

'No, next Thursday. Yes now. - R'

'Tone down the attitude for once will you? - Y' Light shook his head, a small smile playing at his lips.

'Never - R'

'Alright alright, I'll be over in a few minutes, my mom is out so I'll have to walk. - Y'

'See you then - R'

Light went to grab his jacket when he realized something,

'Hey, I just noticed, I don't know where you live. - Y'

He sent his address and Light bounded to the stairs, a nearly imperceptible bounce in his step. He vaguely wondered what Ryuzaki's apartment would look like... probably all monochrome colors, fridge and cupboards packed to the brim with sweets no doubt. Though he wasn't sure if Watari would allow that. Just as he reached the first step he heard a bedroom door open.

"Light? Hey where're you going?" Sayu followed him down the stairs and to the front door.

"To Ryuzaki's, mind telling mom for me?"

"Oohh so you're going to your boyfriend's house? Tell him I'll bake him more cookies if he helps me with my homework again."

"He's not my boyfriend! I don't know why you insist on calling him that... and you can't keep getting him to do your homework for you, your teachers are going to start suspecting something."

"Touchy touchy, big bro." She waggled her fingers at him, "I get you want him all to yourself, but his future sister-in-law needs to pass Geometry!"

The room seemed to grow stuffy when she said this, and Light edged subconsciously toward the open door.

"Yeah yeah, Sayu. I'll tell him."

"Yes!" She pumped a fist in the air and retreated into the kitchen.

Light simply sighed and stepped through the door, making his way down the sidewalk to the address Ryuzaki had sent him. He scoffed at his sister's antics. Seriously, he and Ryuzaki? Boyfriends? Yeah, right. Ryuzaki didn't exactly strike him as gay... the guy had about as much game as a rock. At the bottom of the ocean.

 _That doesn't mean he isn't..._ A tiny voice in the back of his head spoke up.

 _Shut up._ A louder voice shouted back, _Ryuzaki isn't gay, and neither are you._

Light subconsciously quickened his pace. He needed to get to Ryuzaki's before his thoughts took him down a road he wouldn't be able to come back from.

L P.O.V.

Watari opened the front door to be confronted face-to-face with L, standing with arms folded in the entryway.

"L?" He arched an eyebrow at this strange behavior, but L didn't budge from his position. "I see, so you've figured it out?"

"I believe so." L glared at his guardian, "Why didn't you tell me that Light has feelings for me?"

He furrowed his eyebrows then. That wasn't a good sign. He must have missed something...

"It was not my place, it was for you to figure it out yourself." He hung up his coat.

"How did you know?" L followed him through the kitchen.

"How did you know?" He glanced back at L.

"Power of deduction based off of you." He responded without batting an eyelash.

Wammy sighed, "L... What will you do?"

This threw him off, what would he do?

"He'll be over in a few minutes." L mumbled.

"That doesn't answer the question."

"I guess I'll just have to see what happens." L replied thoughtfully.

"And if he becomes outwardly affectionate?"

The room seemed to suddenly grow oddly warm, "Then I-"

A knock sounded on the front door, sparing him from answering Watari's questions for the time being. That was rather quick. He thought as he opened the door to find Light standing on the threshold, looking slightly out of breath. Did he run here?

"Hello Light. Come in." Ryuzaki stepped aside to allow him through the door, shutting it behind him and leading the way into the kitchen where Watari appeared to be preoccupied in the midst of cooking.

"Hello Light." He greeted, giving Light a kind smile.

"Hello again Watari, it's nice of you to allow me to come over." Light returned the smile.

"Not at all, you are welcome any time." Watari shot L a look out of the corner of his eye.

L suddenly remembered his words from a few weeks ago when he had asked what Wammy had meant by Light being an opportunity.

 _A Yin to my Yang..._ He thought to himself, as they walked back to his room.

L observed Light out of the corner of his eye, they way his eyes wandered around in wonder, the way his hair slid down over his eyes. L felt the odd need to brush his hair out of his face.

When they got to his room Light glanced around at the bare walls and the lack of decoration, "Wow you really put your personal touch on this room." He smirked.

"We haven't been here very long, I don't really feel the need to decorate it as my own."

 _I'll be going back to Wammy's soon enough._ He thought, surprised when the thought sent an unpleasant jolt through his chest.

"Oh that's right, I always forget that you haven't been here long... Where did you move here from anyway?" He sank down onto the bed, making himself at home.

"England." L replied truthfully, perching himself on the bed beside Light.

"Oh really? I never would have guessed, your Japanese accent is spot on." He raised his eyebrows.

"Thank you." L mumbled, playing with the fringe of the blanket beneath them.

"So do you think you'll write in English or in Japanese?" He asked.

"What?" L was taken aback by this random question.

"Well you want to be a writer don't you? Which language do you think you'll write in?"

He had almost forgotten he told Light that, but quickly recovered, "Well most of the things I've written so far are in English."

"Interesting..." Light glanced down and then back up at him, "Do you think I could read something of yours? You know if you ever need to get an opinion on your writing."

He was caught off guard by this, "Uhh, sure if you want. I will warn you though, I'm not very good."

"I'm sure that's not true, you strike me as someone who would be good at that sort of thing." Light smiled.

A genuine smile. L noted absently as he searched for something to say. He had never really seriously tried writing before; it had always been Mello's thing. He was superb at it as well... which gave him an idea.

"Here," Ryuzaki slipped off the bed and retrieved his laptop, opening up a folder in which he had saved some of Mello's works. Mello often asked him to proof read some of them, and L figured that Light would be just as adept at editing as he was. **(Which L did not get permission before hand - or at all - to allow other people to read - M)** "what about this?"

He pulled up a short story Mello had written about six months prior about a detective and his partner. He was about 76% sure that it was Sherlock Holmes fanfiction **(You can't prove it - M),** but Light probably wouldn't realize this. Light accepted the laptop and his eyes began shifting across the page, stopping once in a while to read over a particularly interesting section.

Finally he looked up, "This sound kind of like us."

Ryuzaki shrugged, to be completely honest he hadn't gotten around to reading that one yet; he had simply picked it simply for the irony. "Yes, funnily enough this one was written about 6 months ago."

A slight smile broke over Light's face at this, "Well then you must be an oracle or something." This earned him a chuckle from L, and just like that, the ice coating the room had broken.

After considering the story for a moment, L wondered if it was actually about Mello and Matt. He had always known that if Mello were to get his wish of being the next L that he would make Matt his partner. The two of them were nearly as inseparable as Near and his toys.

Matt and Mello were each other's Yin and Yang. L glanced up at Light who had been watching him closely.

"What?" Light raised an eyebrow, noticing L's stare.

"Nothing."

"Is there a chapter two?" He asked with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"No I don't believe so." Ryuzaki lied, smiling to himself as Light seemed almost visibly disappointed.

"Too bad, it's really good. I don't doubt you'll be a world famous writer in no time... Just try not to get a big head when you're famous, yes?" He laughed at the expression on Ryuzaki's face, "And I expect an acknowledgement in your future detective novel. I'm thinking something like 'To my best friend Light Yagami, inspiration, superb detective, and way smarter than myself.'" He continued to laugh as L hit him on the shoulder.

"I'm still better at Calculus." L muttered, knowing exactly how to get to Light.

"Only by half a credit on that last test!" He protested, "By the way Sayu offered to bake you more cookies if you help her with her homework again."

"Deal accepted, those cookies were amazing..." His eyes glazed over at the thought of those cookies.

"Ugh, don't drool on me." Light protested, and they both broke out in laughter once again.

"Does she still call me your boyfriend?" L asked cautiously, trying to gage his reaction.

He hesitated for a fraction of a second, "Yes, she does. No matter how many times I tell her not to."

"I don't mind," He quickly reassured Light, "Besides, it's funny watching you become flustered."

He returned his smirk, "It's not that I care, I just don't know how my dad would react to hearing her call you that."

L frowned, "Do you mean he's homophobic?"

"I don't know, it's hard to tell with him. I know he's all for tradition, which is pretty common for the Japanese." He looked extremely downcast, and it was then that L was at least 91% sure that Light Yagami was gay, or at least bisexual.

The question was whether or not he had acknowledged this yet.

"Light?"

"Yes?" He glanced up and bit his lip, his face reverting back to its usual cool facade, and L wondered how to word his question to not sound like he was asking Light if he was in the closet.

"Does it bother you that your dad may be homophobic?"

"Well yeah a bit," he mumbled, "I mean if he isn't accepting of homosexuality it makes me wonder what else he wouldn't be accepting of. It would kill me to let my father down." He stared at his feet with a deceptively calm expression.

"Light..." Ryuzaki wanted to comfort him, didn't really know how.

"Ryuzaki," He looked up suddenly, "You can't tell anyone I said that, I don't know why I did. I really shouldn't have..." he trailed off seeming unsure of himself for the first time in L's memory.

"Of course I won't tell anyone Light, who would I tell?" Ryuzaki paused then, "Light, you do know that you can talk to me right?"

Despite the atmosphere he managed to crack a smile, "What do you think I'm doing?"

Light was gazing into his eyes with such a genuine and open smile that L was left speechless; a rare occurrence for him.

Just then Watari called the two of them out for dinner. Where had the time gone? L was starting to believe the god of perfectly timed interruptions was on his side that day.

Ignoring the awkward break in the conversation, they made their way to the kitchen, the smell of Watari's cooking wafting through the small apartment.

As they ate there was one thought drifting through L's mind stuck on repeat; _a Yin to your Yang._


	9. Sleepover Part 2

Light P.O.V.

Ryuzaki was acting strange. Well, stranger than usual. Light had the distinct impression that Ryuzaki was watching him, speculating something that he could not comprehend.

He would figure it out eventually. Light had been in his apartment for nearly two hours, and they still had yet to even bring up the case. The two of them had enough in common that they were extremely capable of talking for hours on end about even the most menial things.

"Would you like to stay the night, Light?" Watari spoke up from across the kitchen, addressing him as he and Ryuzaki sat at the table.

"Uhh, yeah sure if that's okay with you." He glanced at Ryuzaki, who seemed pleased by this response, so he added "I'll have to call my mom to drop off some overnight things."

"Alright." Ryuzaki nodded, and Light excused himself to go make the call.

L P.O.V.

L watched as Light retreated to his room, pulling out his phone as he went.

"Where are you two going to sleep?" Watari asked.

"In my room of course."

"Your bed is hardly big enough for the two of you."

"We'll manage." He replied, wondering how this was going to pan out.

"L. Ryuzaki." he corrected himself after a stern glance from L, "What will you do about -"

"I don't know." Ryuzaki cut him off, frowning. He hated not knowing things.

Light P.O.V.

Light sat down on the edge of Ryuzaki's bed, listening to the dial tone as he hit call. After about four rings Sachiko picked up.

"Light?"

"Hey mom, would you mind if I slept over at Ryuzaki's house tonight?"

"Yes of course you can, would you like me to bring over some overnight things for you?"

"Sure mom, that would be great." He replied.

"Okay, I'll be over in a bit if you'd like to send me his address... Oh, and Light?"

"Yeah mom?"

"Ryuzaki... he's a nice boy. If you're happy, then I'm happy. I just wanted you to know." She said in a soft voice.

"Uhm, okay. Thanks mom." Light was perplexed by her suddenly soft tone.

"You're welcome, I'll be over in a bit." With that she hung up, leaving him even more confused than before. He wondered what she had meant as he texted her the address. Within a few minutes Ryuzaki popped his head through the door.

"Light? Did she say yes?" He cocked his head and Light fought the urge to smile at this endearing gesture.

"Yeah, she says she'll drop off overnight stuff in a few minutes."

"Oh good." He came in and sat beside Light on the bed, "We'll probably sleep in here if that's okay with you?"

Light nodded again, "Yeah that's fine, the bed seems big enough." He patted the blanket. Ryuzaki looked thoughtful for a moment but seemed to shake it off quickly. "What?" Light narrowed his eyes, quickly becoming tired of his scrutiny.

"Nothing Light."

"No, not nothing. You've been doing that all afternoon, you're watching me as though you're waiting for something to happen." He folded his arms.

"I'm simply an observant person Light, you know that." He gave Light an innocent look.

"Mhm, right." He pursed his lips, not convinced. "Well if there is a reason why you keep giving me that look, then please feel free to tell me."

"What look?"

"The one that says 'I know something you don't'."

"I didn't know I had such a look."

Light stared at him, why was he being so stubborn?

He sighed, "Light, if it were important I would tell you, could we leave it at that?"

"Fine." Light replied petulantly, but immediately felt bad at the look in his eyes. Maybe he could figure it out on his own.

It was awkward for a few moments until Ryuzaki glanced down at his feet and said; "I'm sorry Light."

Light pretended to gasp in astonishment, "Ryuzaki? Apologizing? Dear god, what has this world come to?"

Instead of replying Ryuzaki simply kicked him off the bed, and Light was pleased to see a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Though perhaps that might've been a smirk considering he was lying on the floor.

"Bastard." Light muttered, moving to a sitting position.

"The one and only." He replied.

They both smiled at one another, the argument all but forgotten, though for a moment Light could've sworn he saw something flicker behind those odd eyes of his. Before Light could question this, they heard Watari calling to them from the living room, announcing that his mother had arrived.

That was quick. He thought as they stood up, Ryuzaki from the bed, Light from the floor. When they arrived in the entrance hall, his mother was deep in conversation with Watari about cooking recipes or something of the like.

"Oh Light! Here you go," She handed him a drawstring bag, presumably with clothes and a toothbrush, "Call me tomorrow if you need a ride home okay sweetie?"

"Yeah, okay mom..." He mumbled, admittedly a bit embarrassed at being called 'sweetie'.

She then turned her gaze behind him, "Hello again Ryuzaki, nice to see you and Light are getting closer." She smiled.

"Thank you Mrs. Yagami." he bowed his head slightly.

"Such a nice boy..." She smiled at Watari and took her leave, waving at Light as she went.

"Your mother is very kind." Ryuzaki stated.

"Thanks." Light replied following him back to his room, leaving Watari in the kitchen.

When they got back to the room, Light set his bag down beside the bed and they lapsed into comfortable conversation. Eventually they found themselves on the topic of L. Light had expected Ryuzaki to be bored or uninterested with the subject, but instead he seemed enraptured. He watched Light speaking reverently about his role model with curious eyes.

"You really look up to this 'L' character don't you?" He furrowed his eyebrows.

"Yes, ever since I was little." Light conceded sincerely, "I grew up on detective stories because of my dad, L is what I've always wanted to be."

"A feared monotone voice hidden behind a letter on a computer screen?" He asked quietly.

"No, L is more than that. He's an unprecedented genius with a strong sense of justice. He's put away more criminals in the past three years than I ever hope to encounter in my lifetime." Light was surprised to see the open astonishment on Ryuzaki's face when he announced this.

"I'll admit Light, after you spoke about L last time I did some research on him, and it would seem that most do not share your sense of respect for him." He frowned.

"I know, a lot of people see him as a monster or a coward," He winced when Light said this, "they say he's emotionless in his methods, and I've read stories of the things that have happened to people who attempt to impersonate him... But I don't think that's the case. No monster could possibly do what he does. He's made the world a safer, better place for innocent people. For the cowardice part, I can see why he would hide his identity, I mean if he were killed the world would lose its greatest crime fighter. So no, I don't care what other people say, L is kind of the closest thing I have to a hero, and nothing will change that."

Ryuzaki stared at him for a long moment, "What if you're wrong? What if L is a coward, an emotionless monster?"

"Impossible." Light knew he was being stubborn, and that there was a slight possibility (perhaps about a 23% chance) that he was wrong, but he didn't really want to think about that. He couldn't really bring himself to.

"What would you do if he turned out to be some sort of freak? What if he was very odd and unlike any normal person you have ever met?" Ryuzaki teased him.

Light chuckled, "What you mean like you? I would be a bit surprised I guess..."

"Careful Light, I'll kick you off the bed again."

Light made a mock-horrified face, "Oh no. Not again."

He smiled and stood up, "Perhaps we should get ready for bed now?"

"Yeah sure."

They quickly changed and each took a few minutes in the bathroom before climbing into the bed. It was a bit smaller than Light had previously thought, and their shoulders touched slightly, but Light found he didn't mind.

Ryuzaki turned to face him, pulling his knees to his chest, "Light, about the case earlier-"

"I'm sorry." Light cut him off, "It was stupid of me to go off on my own, I should have told you-"

"No," Ryuzaki cut him off, "you really have to stop apologizing for that. What I was going to say is that we are down to three suspects now."

"Right, because Ackerman was following Juuzo... Maybe she was investigating him on the same case as us."

"Yes," he said slowly, "also because of what you told me earlier, how she said the words 'suspect incoming' to seemingly no one. This suggests she was using an earpiece to communicate with someone, perhaps an agency, though I'm unsure which one she's working for."

"It's true that she did join the school district at the same time as Juuzo a few years back... Probably in order for her to watch him undercover." Light realized, "We need to talk to her on Monday, try to see if we could get her to tell us why she was tailing him..."

"Yeah," Ryuzaki replied, "sounds good."

"So what will we do about the other suspects? Juuzo in particular..."

He seemed to hesitate, "Perhaps we should talk to Ms. Ackerman before planning anything quite yet."

Light sighed, "You're right. I'm sorry, I guess I'm just really eager about this case."

"It's fine, I understand. It's your first case on your own, anyone would be excited." He trailed off and they gazed at one another for a silent moment, their heads resting on same pillow.

It was calming, Light noted, talking to Ryuzaki through the darkness. The way their ideas seemed to ebb and flow as they conversed it was almost as if they shared one brain and two mouths. Unintentionally unanimous.

They had adopted a certain rhetoric he had never thought to use with any of his other friends. He couldn't remember the last time he was so comfortable and easygoing around one of his peers. Even Misa and Kiyomi he held at arm's length.

Despite this, he was slightly worried about their argument from before, and what it was about. Ryuzaki still seemed to be watching him, but at a lesser extent than before. He supposed he would be able to ignore it, seeing as Ryuzaki had said it was unimportant. He just hoped Ryuzaki trusted him enough to confide in him.

Somewhere amidst his brainstorm Light realized that they had been staring into one another's eyes for at least a few minutes. However, even as he noticed this Light couldn't bring himself to look away. Ryuzaki's eyes were extremely captivating, an odd mixture of grey and black; all at once fathomless, and filled with a mystery Light found himself desperately wanting to investigate.

That's when it clicked. The comment behind the school, his reaction to the bullies, his anger at Light's mistake, the speculating...

"Ryuzaki..." Light mumbled his name, watching as his eyes widened slightly as he realized their staring.

"Sorry Light, I was deep in thought." he said hurriedly, Light could sense rather than see the small blush across his cheeks through the darkness.

"It's alright." He replied softly. Ryuzaki rubbed his eyes and then yawned, Light smiled at the childish gesture.

"Light, I hope you don't mind if I fall asleep now? I'm not sure why but I seem to be rather worn out..."

Light glanced at the digital clock on his bedside table, "No wonder, it's nearly three thirty. I'd better go to sleep too, we can continue talking in the morning."

He smiled. "Yes, that would be great."

Light watched as he slowly closed his eyes. His breathing became slow and deep rather quickly, and Light realized he had actually fallen asleep, leaving him alone with his thoughts. Ryuzaki had originally struck him as an insomniac, though he supposed his deductions could be wrong every once in a while.

For a while he just laid there, his eyes fixed on Ryuzaki's face. His normally blank features seemed oddly calm and serene as he slept, and Light felt the unnatural urge to brush his fingers against Ryuzaki's jawline. He quickly nixed this thought as Ryuzaki sighed in his sleep and Light felt their feet touch under the blanket. His feet were ice cold and not entirely welcome, though Light still smiled ruefully.

Ryuzaki had never struck him as a cuddler, though Light was sure that if he were to lean closer he would find out for sure. Almost of its own accord, his had slid up to twine his fingers with Ryuzaki's on the bed between their chests. Thank everything he was a heavy sleeper, because if Ryuzaki had woken up Light thought he would die of embarrassment.

Light slowly drifted off to sleep with their hands still joined and woke up the next morning the same way, thankfully before Ryuzaki.

L P.O.V.

L was surprised that he had drifted off so quickly, or that he had actually fallen asleep in the same bed as Light. Usually his insomnia prevented him from sleeping at all, let alone when other people or distractions were sharing the room.

He had felt an odd sense of security around Light, enough that it allowed him to fall asleep quickly and peacefully. That was the first time since before he became L that he had slept all the way through a night without waking even once. Light had even woken up before him.

The next morning was quiet, they had breakfast and spent time in L's room for a bit. He even let Light read another one of Mello's stories. Which he dubbed "superb." **(Fuck you L. - M)**

Sometime in the afternoon Light had to return home. Something about school work - of course. L was alright with this, as he still had to plan what to tell him the next day when Light discovered that Ms. Ackerman had left the school...

After he had left, L decided to read the rest of the detective story he had let Light look over. After reading the second chapter L quickly deleted the document, hoping for Mello's sake he had saved a spare copy.

It turns out Mello is a Johnlock shipper... **(You have no evidence - M)**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mello didn't exactly have permission to comment in L's story, so I suppose they're even (Not even remotely - M)


	10. Ugh

Kiyomi P.O.V.

Kiyomi couldn't help but glare at the two of them, sitting there flirting as though she wasn't even there. Though, on second thought, perhaps flirting wasn't really the right word for it. The two of them never flirted, it was always just _sarcasm_ , and cute little smiles and blushing... it made her sick. It wasn't exactly subtle either, practically the whole school had noticed their little crushes. The looks they gave each other made even _her_ blush once in a while.

Angrily, she stabbed her fork into her salad as she plotted ways to turn them against each other. Even sitting across the table from them at lunch was beginning to become unbearable.

"Kiyomiiiii." Misa whined from beside her, "You're glaring at them again, you know frowning all the time like that can cause wrinkles." Kiyomi simply rolled her eyes in response. "I don't know why you hate their friendship so much... I think it's cute!" She persisted.

Kiyomi glared at her, "It's not their friendship I hate, I mean look at them!" She gestured at the two of them, who were oblivious to anything but each other, as usual, "I want to tell them to get a room, but that would just probably make it worse... plus I think I'd literally throw up if they got together."

"Wait a minute... you think they like each other? Like, like-like each other?" Misa gaped at her, giving Kiyomi a wonderful view of the half-chewed food in her mouth. Kiyomi stared at her incredulously; _had she seriously not noticed_?

It would seem so, as Misa suddenly turned to stare at the two boys, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. "Oh my god you're right!" She turned back seriously, "Kiyomi do you know what this means?"

"Yes, we have to-"

"Get them together? My thoughts exactly! How do you think we should do it? Set them up on a blind date? Lock them in a room alone together? Ooh! what if we-"

"Stop!" Kiyomi cut off her excited speculating, waving a fork in the air in front of her face, "What the hell do you mean? Why would we set them up together? I thought you liked Light?" It was true that she and Misa had been vying for Light's attention for years, though they somehow managed to remain friends throughout all of it.

She just snorted, "Well duhh, of course I did, but that's obviously never gonna happen if he's gay."

Kiyomi paused for a moment, what she said was true, if he was gay then getting rid of Ryuzaki wouldn't help her at all... "What if he's bisexual?" She persisted.

"I doubt that, I mean have you ever seen Light look twice at a girl? And even if he was bi, look at how happy Ryu makes him. If Light's happy then I'm happy too." She grinned.

"But..." Kiyomi searched for a reason as to why they should prevent them from getting together, "But being gay, it's... distasteful. Especially for someone like Light who could have any girl in the school."

"What do you mean distasteful? I think you just want Light to yourself Kiyomi." Misa frowned and stood, bouncing over to the seat next to Ryuzaki, leaving Kiyomi alone across the table. "And for the record, I think it's cute!" She raised her voice and folded her arms, causing the love birds to finally look up from their oblivious eye-fucking.

"Did we miss something?" Light frowned, glancing from Kiyomi's cold glare to Misa's pouty baby face. She really could be an overgrown child sometimes.

"What's cute?" Ryuzaki looked to Misa for an explanation, and she opened her mouth to reply.

Sensing impending disaster Kiyomi quickly cut her off before she could say anything stupid, "Her new shirt!" She met Misa's eyes with a sharp glance, hoping the message would get across, "I'm sorry Misa, you were right, it is cute. Not... distasteful at all."

Her eyes brightened with smug understanding. "I told you. It's positively adorable."

Kiyomi sighed, "Yep, it sure is." The boys just looked at each other and shook their heads. The bell rang at that precise moment, and they all stood to head to their afternoon classes.

Misa, back at Kiyomi's side, grinned at the boys and then turned to her, "So how do you suppose we get them together?"

Kiyomi shook her head, "I might support them, but I'm not going to push them together. That they can do on their own."

She nodded, "You're so smart Kiyomi. I'll text you about it later!" she waved as she walked through the door to her class. Kiyomi had no doubt that she would hear all about it later. She rolled her eyes, pleased that Misa bought her support in them. She may have been able to accept the fact that Light was gay, but not with Ryuzaki. Not with that freak. Plus she was still clinging onto the hope that if Ryuzaki dropped out of the picture, Light might like her instead. Which was why she decided to corner Ryuzaki after school in order to warn - threaten - him.

"Hey freak." Kiyomi greeted as she walked over to where he was exiting the school, "I believe we need to talk."

He raised an unamused eyebrow at the nick name, "Kiyomi? What do you need to speak with me about?"

"You." She put on her best icy glare, and to his puzzled expression she added, "And Light."

Without missing a beat he nodded, "Ahh yes, you think we're becoming too close and are here to warn me that 'bad things will happen' should I not back off."

Startled, she took a step back, "Y-yes, actually." she regained her composure then and sneered at him, "I want you to know that I know all about your little crush on Light and trust me, hon, you two will never work out."

He took a step forward then, invading her personal space, and staring down at her with those creepy eyes of his, "Says who... you? The one who tried- unsuccessfully I might add - to get Light's attention years, when it only took me a month?"

Her confidence wavered, but she still managed to catch him off guard one last time, "That's because you're new. And guess what sweetie, as soon as he figures out what the rest of us already see -that you're a freak- he'll soon get bored with you and go back to me. It's just a matter of time." She felt a twinge of satisfaction as his eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"We'll see." Is all he said before brushing past her, heading towards his ride home, leaving Kiyomi content with the damage she had so obviously inflicted.

L P.O.V.

L had seen this coming from the moment he had seen Kiyomi's expression during lunch. It didn't bother him too much, he knew that Light would never go for someone as cold hearted as her, but at the same time Ryuzaki couldn't help feeling downcast as he realized that Light probably _would_ get bored with him after a while.

When he voiced these concerns to Watari however, he merely reminded him of the inevitable prospect of returning to England in less than a month and a half. In a way it made L feel better, knowing he and Light had no chance in the first place, though he wasn't sure how to go about the whole situation, knowing Light did in fact have feelings for him. Not to mention the fact that he was unsure whether he would be able to hold himself back... He supposed he would have to burn that bridge when he came to it.

Light P.O.V.

They noticed. Of course they noticed. Kiyomi was far too vigilant, and Misa was the school's gossip queen. What was he going to do? He couldn't have everyone knowing, that would be a horrible disaster, especially if he was wrong about Ryuzaki returning his feelings... There was only one person he could go to in a time like this.

"Mom?" Light hovered on the threshold of his parent's study, wondering if he should simply turn and leave, to deal with it on his own.

"Oh, Light honey come in, I was just sending an email to your aunt, I need to know if she can make it to your graduation." That did not help the butterflies in his stomach.

She frowned as she took in his expression, "Is there something you need to talk about?"

"Uhm, yeah, actually there is..." he walked into the room and sat down on the couch, Sachiko moved to sit next to him.

"What's wrong? You can tell me you know."

Light took a deep breath "I think I have a crush on someone." he winced as the words came out of his mouth.

"Someone huh?" she chuckled, "And is this Someone a person I know?"

"Maybe." He eluded her question, "I just don't know what I'm supposed to do..."

"Well you're a smart boy, I'm sure you'll figure it out." she laid a hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

"I'm book smart mom, stuff like this... it's not exactly my area of expertise." Light shrugged.

She ruffled his hair affectionately, "I'm not sure it's any teenager's area of expertise."

"Misa's maybe..." He rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure... now about this crush of yours." She arched an eyebrow at him questioningly.

Light frowned, "I can't seem to get them off my mind, we just... click."

"Like puzzle pieces?"

"Exactly. I've never been able to connect with anyone in the same way I connect with him." The words poured out of his mouth before he could stop them. His mother was quiet for a moment and when he turned to face her she had a huge grin spread across her face.

"What?" He asked warily.

"Him?"

Light felt the pit of his stomach drop through the floor of the study. "I-I meant her."

He tried to recover, but her Cheshire grin simply grew wider. "It is Ryuzaki? Who am I kidding, of course it's Ryuzaki." Light put his face in his hands before it could become any more flushed and she clapped her hands in delight, "Oh I knew it!"

"Mom! Mom stop it, it's bad enough that Sayu is always doing this... not you too."

She settled down a bit and put her hand on his shoulder, "Light, I hope you know that your father and I support you in everything you do. Not to mention that Ryuzaki is such a nice boy, I definitely approve." She nodded as though everything was settled.

"Mom! We're not even dating, I don't even know if I want to anyway..."

"Well why not? You obviously like him, and from what I've seen he obviously likes you."

Light could feel the blush creeping up his neck. "I just... I don't know if he would want to, not to mention we're graduating in a month and half... Plus I don't know how the rest of the school will react to us let alone how dad will react..." He trailed off, picturing how his father might react if he found out Light had feelings for another boy.

"Light, you know your father loves you and he will support you no matter what. And if he doesn't then I will just have to set him straight." As she said this they heard heavy footsteps approaching the study and Soichiro Yagami appeared in the doorway.

"Set him straight about what?" He asked, looking from Light to Sachiko and back. Sachiko stood to greet him and Light did his best not to shrink back into the couch. He was definitely not ready for his father to find out.

"Nothing!" He exclaimed, hoping his father would just drop the topic. Sadly his hope was in vain.

"No, I heard you talking... Do you two need to tell me something?" He folded his arms to show he wasn't going to back down. His mother shot Light an encouraging look, and Light knew she was on the verge of telling him. He shook his head in a desperate attempt to stop her from letting the cat out of the bag.

"Your son has a crush on someone from school." She said slowly, giving his father a knowing look. It was then that Light realized that he may already know, his mother didn't seem at all surprised when he told her. Soichiro's eyebrows arched in sudden realization at her implications. "You mean..." He sighed then and pinched the bridge of his nose as though he had the beginning of a headache, "Sachiko..."

"We talked about this Soichiro! We, and we includes you, will support Light no matter what." She placed her hands on her hips, standing between us and seeming to radiate disapproval toward his father.

"But Sachiko..." He then lowered his voice as though he thought Light wouldn't be able to hear him, "Our son, a fag? He'll be laughed at, made fun of! It could reflect bad on the rest of the family. Do you really want that for him?"

"You mean for you. You don't want that for you." She retorted, not budging from her position. Light, meanwhile, was attempting to disappear into the folds of the couch, to blink out of existence.

Soichiro sputtered indignantly, "What does that mean? Of course I'm only looking out for my son!"

"No you're not, or you would be more accepting of him. You just don't want your precious reputation tainted!" she then turned to Light, "Not that you would taint our reputation, Japan isn't that backwards."

Light began to nod, when he caught the expression on his father's face, and rage coursed through him suddenly, "You know what mom? Dad's right." He spit out, standing up and glaring at his father, "Me being gay would bruise our reputation, I very well could be laughed at, and even ridiculed. But you know what? I don't care, I really don't. I'm sick and tired of caring about what people think about me, of trying to be the best because anything else would be shameful. I'm going to do what I want, be what I want, and no one, not even you, is going to stop me." With that having been said, Light marched out of the study and up to his room, slamming the door and collapsing onto the bed.

How could he say those things? And right in front of him! The muffled sounds of his parents continued argument rose, unwelcomed, through the floor. Light felt unwanted tears begin to sting his eyes and furiously wiped them away, he would not cry over this. It was ridiculous, he was still trying to figure this whole mess out. Having feelings for one person, did not mean he was completely, utterly, 100% gay. Plus there was still the small chance that Ryuzaki didn't actually like him back...

**Bzzt bzzt**

His phone vibrated noisily against the wood of his desk, startling him out of his self thrown pity party. It was Ryuzaki. Of course. In an irrational expression of anger, he threw his phone across the room without even checking the message. As it hit the wall he heard the front door slam. _There goes dad_.

If Ryuzaki had never come to his school - if he had never befriended him he would never have been in this situation. Right then he would be looking forward to University, rather than worrying about his father, who had always supported him. Until now. Light wanted to be mad at him, wanted blame all of his troubles and anger on Ryuzaki, but he found he simply couldn't.

So in the meantime, curling up under the covers and burying his head in pillows would suffice. He heard a knock on the door, probably his mother, but ignored it until he heard footsteps retreating down the stairs. What the hell was he going to do?

L P.O.V.

Ryuzaki paced nervously by the front door to the apartment... why isn't he answering?

"Shall we go without him then?" Watari prompted him from the hallway, plucking his keys from the hook, "The evidence will all be messed up by the police if we don't get there soon..."

"I can't just go without him." He protested.

"You have on every case before this one, I'm sure he would tell you to go."

"But what if something happened to him? If he's upset or in danger..." L trailed off unsure.

"L, you're stalling." Watari gave him a stern look.

L sighed deeply, "Fine, fine, I'm coming." And with that he followed Wammy out into the hall, making their way to the car. As he slammed the door shut, L checked the recently sent message on his screen before finally pocketing the phone.

'There's been another murder, up at the school again. There's something different about this one... the news isn't able to cover it fully... I'm about to head to the scene. Do you need a ride? Text me back as soon as you are able. - R'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, Soichiro won't be a homophobic asshole forever. He just really loves Light and doesn't want to see him hurt


	11. The Calm Before the Storm

Ryuzaki P.O.V.

'Misa, do you know where Light is? It's urgent. - R'

L hurriedly typed out the message. At that point he was desperate enough to ask even her for help. Light had never ignored his texts for this long.

'Aww Ryuuu-kunn!1! Y do u want 2 no were Light is so badlyy hmmm? ;);););P - MisaMisa'

Why did he go to her? Oh right, because Kiyomi hated him.

'Misa, this is important. - R'

'Wutevr u say Ryu-kun ;)) as far as I know he's at home, I saw his mom and sister pick him up from school... and you know Light, it's not like he would go anywhere, especially on a school night. - MisaMisa'

'Okay, thank you Misa. - R'

'No prob Ryuuu-kunn... make sure 2 say hi 2 Light for me ;))) - MisaMisa'

Wonderful. So now not only did he have Kiyomi on his back about Light, but now Misa was apparently their number one fan. She was renowned for setting up couples around school, and Ryuzaki had no doubt that she was plotting something for him and Light... But this was not the moment for him to focus on that.

"Watari. I've decided to go straight to Light's house. There is something odd about this situation and I feel as though I have to get to the bottom of it." L felt jittery, what with the new addition to the list of victims, combined with Light not answering his messages. L's hands fiddled with the phone in his lap, unable to sit still.

"Ryuzaki." L jumped at the stern tone in Watari's voice, he had turned around in the driver's seat - thankfully they had not pulled away from the curb yet - "I didn't think I would have to remind you of this, but I believe the case takes priority over drama pertaining to your newfound friends." He was rather taken aback by Watari's words and, staring down at his now stilled hands, L began to contemplate the source of his poor decision-making as of late. Sensing his indecision, Watari added "You promised the boys you would do whatever it takes to solve the case as quickly as possible."

"I know that Watari." L snapped back at him, and then immediately felt guilty at the hurt look in his eyes. "Wammy... I-''

Wammy's eyes softened in understanding, "No L, it's quite alright. Despite what you may think, I do in fact understand how you are feeling at the moment... You love him, don't you?"

As he said this L realized that he was right. He did... have exceptionally strong feelings for Light Yagami. This was something he had never felt before, and sincerely doubted that he would ever feel again. Instead of answering his question L simply asked, "What do you suggest I do?"

After a long pause Watari sighed, "I would suggest, that you go after him."

Needless to say this statement confused him, "But you just said -"

"I realize what I said." Watari interrupted his protest, "Yet, as your guardian, all I want is for you to be happy. Plus the crime scene can wait, it's not as though the evidence will disappear should we take a short detour."

With that having been said, he started the car and pulled away from the curb, heading towards Light's house. It struck L that Watari gave in just a tad bit too quickly. "That was a test to see whether I would pick Light over the case wasn't it." he asked, not really needing to hear the answer.

"You're as sharp as ever L." Watari winked at him through the front mirror, and L felt a small smile tug at the corners of his lips.

Soon enough, they pulled up beside Light's house. L barely waited for the car to come to a stop before jumping out and heading up the driveway. The doorbell sounded muffled when he pushed it, yet a few seconds later the door opened and Mrs. Yagami stood on the threshold. L could hear the faint sound of the television in the background.

"R-Ryuzaki, I didn't realize that you were... did Light invite you over?" She seemed rather hesitant, which was the first indication that something was not quite right, the second being the redness around her eyes informing him that she had been crying.

"No, actually he didn't. I was simply concerned since he hasn't been answering his phone... coupled with the fact that there has been another incident up at the school..."

"Oh yes, m-my husband just left to go investigate." her gaze turned downwards at the mention of Light's father, and Ryuzaki suspected that he was the reason behind her tears.

"Could I possibly speak with Light? Just to make sure he's alright?" He asked, hoping that she would let him through.

"Oh, um..." She glanced at the stairs behind her, where Light was no doubt holed up in his bedroom, "I don't think that's such a good idea at the moment, why don't you come back tomorrow after school maybe? I'm sure Light will be in a more... sociable mood by then."

"Okay, I'll do that. Thank you Mrs. Yagami." He gave her a slight bow, and walked slowly back to the car while formulating a plan and thanking every deity imaginable that Lights bedroom window was in the back of the house.

L had Watari pull away as though they were leaving, and then park a small ways down the street. "If I'm not back in 45 minutes, then please assume I am staying the night." L instructed him, and quickly made his way back to the Yagami's.

As stealthily as he could manage, he made his way around the side of the house until he was in the backyard, hoping that Mrs. Yagami was too engrossed in her television program to look out of the back window.

Hating himself just a little, Ryuzaki managed to find a few small stones scattered in the grass and, with his own comment from a few weeks prior pertaining to clichés playing through his thoughts, took aim; feeling pleased with himself as the first stone bounced off of Light's window with a satisfying 'Clack'.

He waited a few seconds before throwing the second stone, this one too making a sharp noise as it ricocheted off of the glass. This time, L noticed the curtains ruffle slightly at one edge, as though someone was trying to find the source of the racket.

Throwing caution to the wind, he threw his third and final stone with a bit more force than the other two, hoping this would be enough to get Light to open the window. Thankfully it worked as the curtains were suddenly ripped open and Light's irritated-looking face came into view. His expression turned from annoyed to surprised to confused and then back to annoyed again as he realized who exactly it was standing in his backyard.

He slid the glass up and leaned forward so that his head and shoulders were outside, "What the hell are you doing?!" he whisper-shouted at Ryuzaki.

"I happened to be casually strolling through the neighborhood..." He replied sarcastically, "Did you get my texts?" he held up his phone, the screen displaying the messages he had been spamming Light with almost non-stop.

He squinted for a moment, "I can't read them from here. My phone is on the floor across the room from me." L began to question why his phone was on the floor when Light cut him off midsentence. "That doesn't answer my question. _What are you doing throwing rocks at my window?_ "

"I need to speak with you and your mother wouldn't let me into the house for some odd reason." his expression tightened for a moment, but then regained its normal composure before L could fully decipher it.

"What do you need to speak with me about?"

"It would probably be better if we discussed it face to face." L gave him a pointed look.

He scowled but pulled his head back through the window, "Alright, just hold on a minute" and disappeared from view. A few moments later the back door slid open quietly and Light quietly ushered him into the house. "We need to be absolutely silent, my parents cannot know you're here." he whispered.

L nodded, and with that Light led him through the kitchen and down the hallway. When they reached the space between the living room and the stairs he pointed to him and then the stairs, then walked into the room, presumably to divert his mother's attention. Trusting Light's skills of distraction, L hurried up the stairs and, hearing no cries of protest, let out a sigh of relief. Suddenly a door to his right opened and a tired looking person stepped through. He had forgotten about Sayu.

"Wha- Ryuzaki?" she looked at him in confusion, before her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, "Ohh Light is going to be in sooo much trouble..."

He motioned for her to be quiet before whispering, "Please Sayu, you can't tell anyone I'm here."

"Don't worry, I wasn't planning on it. But you better tell light he owes me one!" her smile then switched to a more worried expression, and she leaned toward him to whisper, "Light's been through a lot tonight, you might want to be a bit careful. If you could possibly cheer him up... I think he really needs it." With that she made her way around him and headed for the stairs, turning around once, her signature smirk back on her face, "I guess this means I'm the good child now huh?"

L stood there for a few moments, trying to deduce what could have possibly happened earlier to cause Sayu to be concerned for her brother. Shaking his head when his speculations came up empty, L opened the door to Light's room as quietly as he could, and went to sink down onto the bed, marveling yet again about how very Light-like his room was.

Everything was neat and organized, every pen and pencil accounted for, his homework on a neat pile on the desk, no doubt completed to the highest quality. Despite the situation, L felt myself smiling at Light's nearly obsessive compulsive-ness when it came to tidiness.

As he was thinking this, the door opened and Light slipped through, closing it behind him and leaning up against it. "Sayu came into the kitchen, did she-"

"Yes we ran into each other, but I sincerely doubt she'll rat us out." Ryuzaki reassured him.

He nodded, "I thought as much." Light hadn't met his eyes once since he had come into the room.

"Light?" Ryuzaki asked carefully, "Sayu mentioned that something happened earlier, and your mother said something similar... is this 'something' the reason why you never answered any of my texts?" There it was again, the tightening in his expression. As though it pained him to think about it, whatever it was. "Light..." Ryuzaki mumbled, still wondering what on earth could have happened to cause everyone to be so on edge.

Wordlessly Light left his position by the door to sink down onto the bed beside him, still not meeting L's eyes. "Light you know if something is bothering you then you can..." He felt his voice trail off as Light leaned towards him.

His eyes suddenly bored holes into L's as he raised one eyebrow, "Really Ryuzaki? Throwing rocks at my window?"

L swallowed, the intensity in Light's eyes concerning him, "I know, I know, cliché-" he was cut off midsentence, for what felt like the millionth time that afternoon, by Light's lips crashing into his.

His whole body froze as time seemed to slow down. L's thoughts turned to gelatin, unable to process what was happening. Light must have taken his astonishment as revulsion since he pulled away rather quickly and began to apologize. "I... Ryuzaki-"

This time it was L's turn to silence him. L's fingers wound through Light's hair as their lips moved against one other. The kiss was everything he had ever imagined and more. It was better than any strawberry cake, or post-case high. It was the feeling of coming home after a long time away from his successors.

L sighed and moved his hands down to hook his fingers through Light's belt buckle loops, pulling him as close as possible. L could feel as Light smiled into the kiss and felt himself do the same. Neither one of them had realized before that moment just how badly they both wanted this. He deepened the kiss and bit down lightly on Light's lower lip, he gladly complied, opening his mouth so their tongues could meet. L really had no experience with any of this, but with Light it all felt natural.

Light's hands slipped under L's shirt, his thumbs tracing small circles on his waist, and L couldn't help but shiver. It felt odd kissing Light, odd but wonderful at the same time. It was like fireworks bursting inside of his chest, accompanied by the weightless feeling of a rollercoaster. Eventually they broke apart, both breathing heavily, and rested their foreheads against one other.

Light let out a small laugh, "I guess Sayu was right about us all along."

"Oh come on Mr. Genius Detective, you're telling me you didn't see this coming?" L smirked at him, one hand still toying with the hem of Light's shirt.

"And you did?" he retorted.

"Well..."

"Exactly." Light smirked back, and L kissed him again just to shut him up. This time he locked his arms around L's waist and leaned back slowly until he was on his back with L lying on top of him. They stayed like this for quite a while, neither of them having any incentive to move.

Finally, L pulled away.

"Light?"

"Yes?" Light replied, playing with L's hair absently.

"Why were you upset earlier?" He almost regretted asking, as he watched Light's eyes cloud over.

"It's nothing. Why can't we just -" "Light." He sighed, "Can't we just deal with this tomor-"

"Light."

"Fine, fine." he sat up slowly, giving L time to roll off of him. As they sat side by side yet again, L placed his cold hand over Light's warm one on the bed between them, squeezing it reassuringly.

After a while he took a deep breath and began, "I told my mom... about us. About my feelings for you. She was all for it, she even said that she would force my father to come around... but then he overheard... " He trailed off nearly in tears, and L recalled what Light had said days before about not being able to cope if he were to let his father down. "I told him that I didn't care what people thought of me, or that I could be ostracized... I told him that I would do what I wanted and that he couldn't stop me." he gritted his teeth and stared down at the floor, a fierce sort of determination filling his eyes.

A cold sense of doubt settled in L's stomach. _Was this just his way of rebelling against his father? Am I his way of rebelling?_ L dispelled this thought and wrapped his arms around him, "I'm so sorry Light."

Light rested his chin on L's shoulder and wrapped his arms around his waist, "It's alright, it was bound to happen at one point or another." L said nothing, but tightened his hold on Light and closed his eyes. "Since I've done my part of explaining, why don't you tell me the reason as to why you were in my backyard throwing rocks at my window." he suggested.

"Oh right," L suddenly remembered his purpose for being there, "there's been another murder up at the school."

"What!?" Light leaned back to look at L's eyes, checking to make sure he was being serious, "Ryuzaki you should have told me sooner, what if it was Misa this time?"

"It wasn't, I talked to her earlier asking where you were when you wouldn't answer my texts."

"It could still be someone we know..." he started to stand, as if to sprint straight to the school.

"Light, neither of us can go at this point, according to your mom, your father left a while ago to go investigate. I don't think he'd let us off the hook quite as easily as he did last time." L attempted to reason with him.

He seemed to deflate slightly, sitting back down on the bed and starting to think the situation through. "What time is it?" he asked

"Nine thirty" L replied, "Why -"

"If dad left about an hour and a half ago then they should be almost done searching the scene for evidence, and forensics should leave at around eleven to eleven thirty... that gives us about two hours until the scene is completely vacated."

L frowned at him, "You're not suggesting that we break into a crime scene are you?"

"Yes. It's the only way we will be able to see the evidence up close and personal." He reminded L of himself on a case... willing to do anything to get results.

"Alright." L replied grudgingly, "We should leave at eleven thirty, just too make sure no one will be there. I'll inform Watari-"

"No. You don't have to bother him when we can just take my father's car." The doubt settled once again at the bottom of L's stomach. It would seem that everything Light was doing that night was some form of rebellion.

"Light, it's really no trouble."

"Ryuzaki, will you just trust me on this?" he put his hands on either side of L's face and lifted it to his own, briefly brushing their lips together, "There's nothing to worry about."

His doubt was not fully quelled by this, though that didn't really stop him from returning the kiss. They spent the next two hours lying on his bed, talking quietly and, of course, kissing. L was comfortable just lying there in the darkness with him, and he almost wished they could stay there all night, rather than to go investigate the scene of the crime... That was a new feeling.


	12. The Prince and the Frog

Light P.O.V.

Light was headed at about 200 miles per hour down the highway of self destruction... but he honestly couldn't seem find the wherewithal to care. At least he had done his homework early that night.

He honestly couldn't say what was going through his head when he opened his curtain to Ryuzaki in his backyard, bouncing rocks off of his window like a character in some 1980's Hollywood chick flick. The fact that he kissed him for the first time soon after only proves the whole 'path of self destruction' thing, though he couldn't say that he ever regretted it.

For the most part, Light was just extremely relieved that one, they did in fact share the same feelings for one another, and two, that now there was nothing holding them back. They spent two hours waiting for the crime scene to be vacated lying on his bed together commiserating over the lost time they had squandered pretending to be "just friends."

Light was immensely surprised to hear that Ryuzaki had only realized his feelings for Light around the same time he had realized his feelings for Ryuzaki. They laughed for what felt like ages at how completely oblivious they had both been.

After about an hour they heard Light's father arrive home and stomp - presumably - to his room. They endured another scare when his mother mom came to check up on him a few minutes later, though thankfully Ryuzaki managed to stay out of sight, and Light hoped she bought the idea that he was actually asleep, rather than pretending to be.

It was rather nerve wracking as Light had never really _directly_ disobeyed his parents; at least not at this magnitude. Yet the prospect of dating Ryuzaki, as well as finally solving a case on his own quelled his nerves a bit.

Finally at around eleven twenty p.m. Light logged onto the Japanese police force's database using his father's password and sure enough, the pictures from forensics were up. He quickly hit 'print all' and collected them on their way out of the house. He wasn't quite sure what exactly possessed him to want to steal his dad's car, though he supposed it was simply another added "fuck you" onto the growing list of impertinent actions he had decided to take that night.

"We're going to have to pull out of the driveway without using the headlights, just to make absolutely certain your parents don't see us leave." Ryuzaki informed him, "Would you like to drive?"

"Sure, if we get into an accident I don't want my father having any extra reasons to place the blame on you." Light bit his lip, and Ryuzaki nodded once in agreement before climbing into the passenger seat. Light managed to back out of the driveway without any complications, and they drove quickly towards the school, parking a little ways down the street from the building, just in case.

As they approached the back door, Ryuzaki stopped him and requested a leg up. Light knelt down and laced his fingers together, confused when Ryuzaki placed his foot in his hands and pushed himself upwards, peering at the top of the ledge above the door where the key was hidden. After a few moments he hopped down with the key in hand, and then began inspecting the keyhole in the door.

"You think the murderer is using this key to get into the building." Light arched an eyebrow. This could definitely help them narrow down their list of suspects.

"It would seem that way, at least the lack of dust around the key suggests so. Also the lock shows no signs of tampering. I deduced that the killer uses this door since no one ever sees him enter through the front, despite there being residencies just across the street."

"So now we have specific evidence telling us that Ms. Ackerman is innocent, seeing as she has keys to the building." Light noted thoughtfully.

"Yes, that and the fact that she left the school earlier this week."

It was true that they had gone to speak with her that morning, but as it turned out she had left the night before.

"Do you think we should re-hide the key somewhere else?" Light suggested.

"No I don't think that would help. The killer would just find a more creative way into the building." he unlocked the door and pushed it open.

Light nodded, "You're right, plus that could let him know that someone is on to him."

Walking through the halls with him reminded Light of the last time they had been there after hours. At least this time the scene would be a bit less gruesome. Light pulled out the pictures and glanced at the one on top, it was of a blood spatter against the wall.

"Hold on, they found the victim in the biology lab again..." He frowned down at the picture, "That's two now out of the five victims that have been found in the biology lab... well the evidence anyway"

"It would seem that the evidence points strongly to Juuzo. While normally the biology lab could just be a coincidence, considering the fact that it's a wide space with the necessary tools, but the fact that they are only now being found there is highly suspicious. If the killer needed the room or the tools they would have begun the killings there in the first place." He surmised.

They entered the lab, the stench of cleaning chemicals greeting them like a warning as they surveyed the room. Most of the blood was cleaned up, save for the orange-y tinted stains it left on the floor. Needless to say, this classroom would be closed off from the students the next day, the biology lessons held in a different room...

"Ryuzaki, this means that Juuzo's lessons will be moved tomorrow."

He glanced over thoughtfully before replying, "Which means that after school we will need to investigate the room he is reassigned to."

"Mhm," Light hummed in agreement as he spread the photos out on one of the desks. Instead of helping, Ryuzaki simply came up behind him and wrapped his arms around Light's waist, resting his chin on his shoulder.

"You know you could always help me with the pictures..."

"I think I'm fine here, thanks." he peered down at the pictures over Light's shoulder, perusing the images as calmly as though he he did this everyday of his life. Light set down the final picture, mentally trying to put everything in its place around the room. The body had been suspended in the corner, held up by a thick rope around her neck.

"Nagisa..." He frowned.

"Hmm?" Ryuzaki picked up the picture of her, "Was that her name? I've seen her in the hallways before, I think. It seems as if the killer tried to make it seem like a suicide, though the lacerations all over her body suggest otherwise... Light are you okay?"

It was then that Light realized how hard he was gripping the desk. He relaxed his grip slowly and stretched out his fingers, "I'm fine I guess, it's just that..." he glanced back at the picture, "I've known Nagisa since kindergarten. She was one of the nicest people I've ever met..."

Ryuzaki tightened his hold around his waist, "Light, we're going to catch this killer. He's going to pay for what he's done."

Light nodded, about to reply when another picture caught his eye. Lifting it up he saw that the picture was of a note left by the killer. From behind him Ryuzaki inhaled sharply, "Light he's talking about us."

To Prince and Frog;

Each one out of luck,

you won't deserve your death,

as I would suggest,

for you closely should take hold of your day-light.

"The prince and the frog." Ryuzaki muttered wryly. Light recalled the countless times Kiyomi had called him a frog... in the cafeteria, in the halls, in class. Anyone could have overheard.

"You think that means that the note is referring to us... Oh come on, you only look vaguely frog-like." Light attempted to make light of the situation, but the effect seemed to fall short.

Ryuzaki frowned, "take tight hold of your day-light" that seems pretty specific to me."

"The forensic team seems to just think he's crazy." Light pointed to the notes at the bottom of the photograph.

"Well if it is addressed to us he may have left us a hidden message other than the obvious, 'I see you two.'" L continued on, "Do you think he could be here waiting for us? If he knows we're on to him he may take a risk he wouldn't have even considered before. When backed into a corner, killers can be very unpredictable."

"You sound like a detective." Light replied thoughtfully, not missing the way he winced, almost as if he had forgotten Light was there. Light wondered, for about the millionth time why Ryuzaki wanted to be a writer, when he obviously had a knack for detective work.

L P.O.V.

L wondered if the note was meant to clue them in to something deeper. The majority of the time when he dealt with a killer as audacious as this one, they would often leave hints as to their next moves just to see if they were able to outsmart him. Needless to say they usually failed.

Carefully, he reread the note, the word light deserve jumping out to him. If the killer did know who they were, as the allusion to the prince and the frog would suggest, could he be making a threat towards Light? As he considered this, L encountered a bevy of emotions, anger being the most prominent.

If this low life criminal thought that he could make a threat towards Light and get away with it then he was sorely mistaken. L observed Light's face as he analyzed the note, his eyes narrowing at one line or another.

 _Should I tell him?_ He wondered, L knew that if he told Light he would want to use himself as bait. It may have been selfish of him, but L wouldn't allow him to put himself in harm's way. This was his first case without his father, wasting his life now would be pointless. 

"Ryuzaki."

L started guiltily as he noticed Light staring at him, "Yes Light?"

"Nothing, you were just daydreaming again." He went back to piecing together the clues in the note. L's arms found their way back around Light's waist, and a soft smile spread across his face. L decided right then and there that he would never let anything happen to Light Yagami so long as he lived.

Light P.O.V.

 _One of you deserves death, I suggest you should hold your light._ Light reread the skip code to himself. The clue was easy enough to spot, Light just hoped Ryuzaki wouldn't notice. They had enough to worry about at the moment. Of course the police force would never notice something like this, especially since they weren't looking for it... Light could use this to his advantage.

No more innocent people will die for this. He would be greatly risking his chances of surviving until graduation, but if it meant that the killer would be captured then Light would do anything for results.

Ryuzaki couldn't know of course, he'd go ballistic, and possibly place Light under house arrest. But he had to do this. He had to prove that he was worthy to his dad... the police force... Ryuzaki... and most importantly to himself. Plus, the longer the killer stayed out of prison the more danger Ryuzaki would be in, especially since he knew their names and faces.

Together they sorted through the rest of the pictures and searched the room. Finding no more clues, they both sat down on an empty desk. "So far all signs point to Juuzo." Light muttered.

"It would seem so." Ryuzaki replied, casting his eyes around the room once more, "Though, why would he change his pattern now that he knows we're on to him? Before, each murder was performed in a different room. Now there have been two in a row, _both_ in the biology lab."

"Perhaps he's trying to lead us to him." Light wondered.

"Perhaps, but this just seems too obvious."

"Maybe..." Light frowned, glancing at his watch quickly, just to be sure of the time; the small clock face read 1:33 a.m.

Noticing his exhaustion, Ryuzaki sighed, "Maybe we should leave soon. It _is_ a school night. Plus, if your parents look out of the window and notice the car gone-"

"I don't care." Light replied petulantly, "Let them notice."

Ryuzaki became uncharacteristically silent.

"What?" Light asked, frowning at him, "If my father refuses to respect me and my choices, then why should I respect him?"

"I just think that maybe you might want to slow down... You haven't really actually rebelled before, and now - in one night - you're sneaking out, stealing cars, breaking and entering, and hanging around crime scenes with someone you know that your parents don't approve of." He said all of this while staring at his shoes, not wanting to meet Light's eyes.

"Well first and foremost, I _borrowed_ one car, secondly we didn't break anything, so technically it's just entering, and thirdly only one of my parents disapproves of you." Light nudged him with his elbow, slightly disappointed when Ryuzaki didn't comment on his interpretation for being too literal. "Ryuzaki... if something is bothering you please tell me." Light bit his lip, "I can't fix whatever it is unless you tell me."

Ryuzaki hesitated for a second before blurting out, "Am I an experiment?" His eyes then widened, "I-I just meant..."

Relief washed over Light like a flood, and he almost burst out laughing. The fact that Ryuzaki thought he might not care about him was laughable. "I know what you meant," Light reassured him, "you think that kissing you was part of this whole rebellion thing." He continued to stare at his feet curled around the edge of the desk. "You know for a genius, you can be incredibly thick headed sometimes." Light laughed.

He looked up thoughtfully, "You know I honestly can't recall the last time someone called me that..."

Light rolled his eyes and punched him on the shoulder, "Kissing you is the one thing I've done tonight that I know for sure I'm not going to regret in the morning."

Ryuzaki took Light's hand in his and lifted it in front of Light's face, showing him his own watch, "Technically it's already morning."

"Smartass." Light muttered, rolling his eyes for the millionth time that night.

"The one and only." He replied, clearly proud of himself, "Uhm Light? Could I have my hand back?"

"Nope. Sorry, but it belongs to me now." Light tightened his grip. Ryuzaki shook his head at his childishness, but didn't argue, choosing instead to intertwine their fingers. Light sighed, "Shall we head home then?"

He nodded, "I believe that would be best." Slowly, they slipped off the desk and down the hallway, pausing at the door to re-hide the key. This time they didn't let go of each others hands as they rounded the corner to the front of the building, his comment from the time before suddenly making sense.

Light shook his head inwardly at his own naivety. As if on the same train of thought, Ryuzaki stopped in his tracks and squeezed Light's hand. "What're you-"

Ryuzaki cut him off by pressing his lips to Light's and pushing him up against the side of the building. Light smiled ruefully and kissed him back. His lips tasted like pure sugar which, given his strange dietary habits, was not very surprising. Even though Light had never really had much of a sweet tooth, he found the taste oddly comforting; a fact which made Ryuzaki laugh for a solid three minutes the one day when Light chose to confess this to him.

"Good thing we aren't 'just friends' anymore..." he smirked at Light as they walked back to the car.

As Light clipped his seat belt on, he glanced back at the building, suddenly remembering something. "Huh..." He muttered, frowning.

"What, did you figure something out?" Ryuzaki frowned.

"No, it's just that I remembered something from my first year here." Light recalled, "I was in Juuzo's biology class, and one day the girl in front of me got a nosebleed... he refused to go near her. Juuzo was afraid of blood."

Ryuzaki looked thoughtful, "If this is true, then it means he can't possibly be the killer."

"We still need to search his classroom tomorrow," Light reminded him, "just in case I'm wrong. If we can match his handwriting to the note's then we'll know for sure."

"Yes, you're right, we can't jump to conclusions. Plus people often get over phobias, perhaps he isn't afraid anymore."

"Or it could have been his way of covering up his obsession." Light added thoughtfully, starting up the car, "Do you need to be dropped off at your house?"

"Sadly yes, seeing as it is a school night." he replied, curling his knees up to his chest in the passenger seat. Light groaned inwardly, realizing how sleep deprived he was going to be the next day, though he supposed that's what coffee was for. Plus he wouldn't be the only one falling asleep during class, as Ryuzaki appeared to equally be tired as well.

Light pulled up outside of L's apartment building, leaning over to kiss him one last time before he got out of the car. "Really Light? As if tonight couldn't become any more cliché..." he muttered shaking his head. He tried to appear annoyed, but his face gave him away instantly.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Light stuck his tongue out at him, in a very Sayu-like fashion.

He watched Ryuzaki walk into the building before driving away, feeling his heart rate pick up speed as the events from the past eight or so hours caught up to him. It was strange how earlier, just after the dispute with his father, it felt as though his entire world was crashing down; but then, after spending time with Ryuzaki, it had quickly become one of the best nights of his life... or at least one of the most memorable... Light contemplated this as he snuck back into his own house, thanking his lucky stars as his little excursion went unnoticed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the awful note/skip code. I'm really bad at writing those...


	13. Light is not a morning person

L P.O.V.

"How are you not tired?" Light grumbled in exasperation, slumped over his desk.

"You know two a.m. is not very late for most people our age, Light." Ryuzaki replied, for once grateful for his tendency toward insomnia.

Light simply groaned in response. Apparently he did not react very well to too little sleep - something L would have to remember for later. Their little escapade last night did not seem to do his early-morning-attitude any justice.

Ryuzaki briefly considered patting his back - isn't that what people do? - when Misa slid into the seat on Light's other side.

"Oh my god Ryuzaki! What happened to your hand?" She gasped and pointed, causing Light to look up from his self pity party. Ryuzaki hastily tried to hide it from them, though without much resolve as he knew Light would've eventually noticed at some point.

Light quickly caught a hold of it and unwound the bandage to reveal the gash across his palm, "Is this why you were late to first period?"

L nodded slowly, "The new principal asked me to help her carry a vase into her office, and when I dropped it one of the shards of glass cut my palm." He lied carefully, making sure to not let Light see through the story.

"It looks pretty clean cut for a jagged piece of glass..." he frowned, "from the looks of it this should have bled quite a bit. Are you sure you're okay?" he glanced up worriedly.

L felt suddenly guilty as he couldn't detect any trace of skepticism in Light's eyes. Sighing softly he reminded himself that this was for Light's own safety and nodded again, "Light there's no need to worry."

His eyes still looked troubled but he seemed to accept this answer, and turned back to the front of the room where the teacher was finally beginning his lecture. Ryuzaki glanced down at his palm; he was now one step closer to finding the true killer, though the pieces still didn't quite fit into a whole picture just yet.

He watched curiously as Kiyomi stalked through the door and took the desk beside Misa. The two of them immediately leaned in to one another and began whispering. L frowned and attempted to subtly eavesdrop, though with Light between them this proved rather difficult.

Misa P.O.V.

"But now is our chance Kiyomiii!" Misa whined, "Please please pleaseeee?"

Kiyomi continued to glare stubbornly toward the chalk board, refusing to answer her.

"We could set them up on a blind date, or we could make Ryuzaki jealous by getting Teru to flirt with Light..." Misa listed off all of the ideas she had come up with the night before. She was determined to set them up together if it was the last thing she did.

Kiyomi finally glanced over, "What was that last one?"

"Steal Light's phone and ask out Ryuzaki for him?" Misa frowned, it wasn't the most romantic method, but if Kiyomi thought it was a good idea...

"No, that wouldn't work anyway... I was talking about the one involving Mikami."

Misa's frown was quickly taken over by a wide, and slightly evil, grin.

Kiyomi P.O.V.

It was perfect. Not for what Misa was planning, but for her own purposes... Kiyomi knew that Light and Ryuzaki were too smart to fall for this trick, but with any luck she would be able to turn it around and have them at each other's throats by the end of the day.

When the bell rang signaling the mad rush to the door, Misa nodded at her with a determined expression and went to do her job of distracting the two idiots in question. Meanwhile, Kiyomi made her way over to Teru Mikami, the less-than-popular class president. Who also happened to have had a huge , and rather painfully obvious, crush on Light for years.

"Hey Mikami." She purred, batting her eyelashes.

He barely glanced up at her before mumbling, "Oh, hello Kiyomi."

Damn. She thought, remembering his sexual orientation. She supposed she would have to convince him without using her natural charm.

"So I was talking to Light earlier..." She started, both pleased and irritated when his head popped up at the mention of Light.

"Did... Did he mention me or something?" He asked, glancing over to Light nervously.

"As a matter of fact he did! He keeps telling me how he thinks you're so smart, and how you two share the same passion for justice..." his eyes lit up at the word justice and she knew she had him.

He then frowned, "What about Ryuzaki?"

Kiyomi pretended to laugh, "What about him? Light has told me many times that he only lets him hang out with us out of pity..." she leaned in to whisper in his ear conspiratorially, "The guy's a freak, Light can't wait to get rid of him for someone a bit more... appropriate."

Teru's eyes widened, "Does this mean that Light is -"

"Yes." She cut him off, not wanting to hear him call her Light gay. She then forced another smile, "Why don't you sit with us today at lunch?"

"Yes that would be wonderful... Thank you Kiyomi..." he gave her a strange look before hurrying away to his next class.

Kiyomi knew he might be a bit skeptical of her, considering her reputation as a heartless bitch. Not that she really minded; it had taken her months to be cruel to enough people to earn herself that title. People's opinions didn't matter if they were too scared to voice them...

She gave Misa the 'it worked' signal and rejoined the little group.

Misa P.O.V.

She couldn't believe it worked! You could always count on Kiyomi to manipulate people.

Misa could barely contain herself until lunch, at one point she thought Light might have noticed her unusually high level of energy, though she suspected he simply chalked it up to her normal antics. When the afternoon bell went off she grabbed Light and Ryuzaki and dragged them to the lunch hall, eager to get there before Kiyomi. Sure enough a few minutes after they had sat down, Kiyomi walked up with an anxious-looking Mikami in tow.

"Hey guys," she shot Light a dazzling smile, "Would you mind terribly if Teru sits with us today?"

The boys shook their heads and Misa leaped up from the seat she had positioned herself in between Light and Ryuzaki, "You can take my spot! I want to sit next to Kiyomi anyway."

Mikami seemed extremely nervous and Misa began to feel bad about using him... But then again he had liked Light for years and that was so obviously not going to happen. Besides, Light and Ryuzaki were meant to be together! It had to be done.

She observed as Mikami began a conversation with Light about politics or something boring like that. Misa could see Ryuzaki becoming frustrated as Mikami turned more and more in his seat in order to edge him out of the conversation.

"It's working!" Misa whispered to Kiyomi, who seemed almost suspiciously satisfied with the outcome of their plan.

Ryuzaki squinted at Teru, then at them... uh oh. Instead of saying anything he simply pulled out a book and ate his lunch in silence. Misa glanced at Kiyomi crestfallen. She was frowning.

"Time for plan B." Misa muttered, unhappily. Then immediately perked up, remembering what "Plan B" entailed.

Kiyomi eyed Misa skeptically, "What's 'Plan B'? I wasn't aware of a second plan."

Misa nodded excitedly, and leaned in to whisper, "Time to set them up on a blind date."

She just scoffed, "Right, as if either of them would agree to that."

"They will if I don't tell them it's a blind date." Misa grinned mischievously, smirking at her soon to be victims. It was almost like a double blind date.

Light P.O.V.

Light was surprised when the girls invited Mikami to eat lunch with them, he knew Kiyomi at least had hated him for years; though he could never figure out why...

Overall he was a pretty decent guy, and he had some intriguing ideas when it came to the justice system, especially the idea of a stricter death penalty for high profile criminals. At the end of the lunch period he wrote his number on a slip of paper and handed it to a highly confused Light before practically running from the lunch hall.

Light heard a snicker from his right and turned to find Ryuzaki with a book in front of him and his hand over his mouth, obviously trying not to laugh.

He narrowed his eyes, "What's so funny?"

"You." he replied, "You're quite the charmer, Light Yagami... or I would assume so, what with all the girls - and boys apparently - fawning over you."

Light shook his head, "Jealous much?" he whispered.

"Not in the slightest." Ryuzaki smirked at him, "Obviously he's no match for me."

"Hmm I don't know..." Light feigned indecision, "Mikami is kinda hot... maybe I should go after him instead..." He laughed as Ryuzaki hit his arm.

"Not. Funny." he said, trying and failing to appear angry.

"Hey guyyys." Misa came up behind them, placing her arms across their shoulders, "So what are you two doing later? Kiyomi and I want to go see another movie."

Light glanced back at Kiyomi, who was pouting with her arms crossed.

Ryuzaki shrugged, "I'm not busy, how about you Light?"

"I can probably make it." He replied slowly.

"Yay!" she shouted, "And we can go out to dinner too. What about that restaurant just across the street from the cinema?"

"You sure seem to have this planned out." Light muttered wryly, though his sarcasm seemed to escape her.

"So it's settled!" she announced, ignoring his comment, "Dinner and a movie, it's a date!" she winked at the both of them suggestively and flounced away, dragging Kiyomi with her.

Light glanced at Ryuzaki "Do you think we should tell them?"

He shook his head, "Nah, they'll figure it out eventually... Although Mikami needs to keep his distance from you until then."

"So you are jealous." Light smirked at him triumphantly.

"And you're a know-it-all, but I won't point that out."

Light punched his arm and laughed. They made their way to their first afternoon class, which happened to be Art History with Mr. Obata. They sat at the back of the classroom as he began his lecture, trading notes in order to pass the time.

'Renaissance Painters... child's play. - R'

Light rolled his eyes, 'Says the one who wants to become an author - Y'

'Of literature, not manga. Besides, tell me you didn't learn this material three years ago. - R'

Light rolled his eyes a second time as Ryuzaki continued to write in the notebook.

'I can't believe we ever suspected him as the murderer. - R'

Light's eyes widened and he quickly glanced around to make sure no one was watching them.

'Should we really be discussing the case in a note that could be easily found? - Y'

'Our peers don't care enough and it's not as though Obata will halt his monotonous lecture long enough to notice us passing notes. - R'

'I guess. And technically Obata is still on our suspect list, just until we have definitive proof on Juuzo. - Y'

'I'm about seven percent sure that we will find what we are looking for later today. - R'

Seven percent? Light wondered how seven percent would help them solve the case.

They continued the rest of the lesson in the same fashion; at one point barely dodging a detention as their note passing came close to being discovered by Obata, who had turned around to pass out their daily home assignment.

When the end of the lesson came about Light gathered his papers and paused to wait for Ryuzaki, who had been taking more time than usual to pack up his things. As they walked past Mr. Obata to get to the door he suddenly stopped them and leaned forward to snatch a piece of crumpled paper from the floor.

"Does this belong to one of you two?"

Light shook his head and watched Ryuzaki do the same. As they made their way to the next class he wondered briefly if it was the page they had been writing notes on, but that had been in the black notebook that Ryuzaki always used, and he hadn't had any reason to rip it out or crumple it up.

They spent the rest of the school day in anticipation, Light knew that whatever they would find in Juuzo's classroom could potentially bring an end to the case; something he was particularly keen on doing since their discovery of the note the night before.

Light knew that from there on out he would have to solve the case basically by himself now that the killer had made a direct threat to the both of them. He would bring this monster down even if it meant risking his own safety in the process, and he would never allow anything to happen to Ryuzaki. Ryuzaki had a promising future as a professional writer ahead of him, and jeopardizing that simply for Light's own play at being a detective was unfair to him.

At the end of the day Light made a quick pit stop at his locker in order to stash his bag before meeting up with Ryuzaki. He was in the midst of pulling off his jacket when a person leaned up against the locker beside his.

"Oh hello Teru." Light blinked in surprise, expecting someone much shorter and scruffier.

Obviously catching on to his surprised look Teru responded; "Expecting panda face were you?"

"His name is Ryuzaki." Light replied curtly, not overly fond of the way he said the words 'panda face' as though he expected him to join in on the mockery.

"Right, whatever." he rolled his eyes, "You can drop the act around me, I know you hate him just as much as everyone else does. I mean I respect you for taking pity on the guy, but he doesn't exactly seem like he needs protection. Look what he did to poor Sousuke! The guy is a freak."

Light felt anger surge up inside him like bubbles in seltzer water and his fists clenched, almost of their own accord. He quickly and carefully schooled his features in order to keep up his normal nonchalant appearance.

"Sousuke," He growled, "got what he deserved. Ryuzaki wouldn't have dislocated his jaw if he hadn't first called me some homophobic slur. And don't ever assume that I do or do not like someone based solely on the fact that they are unpopular."

Mikami had shrunk back in surprise at Light's outburst and managed to stutter out; "I-I didn't - "

Light cut him off because at that point he was on a roll and also sick and tired of people bad mouthing Ryuzaki behind his back, "Furthermore, Ryuzaki is the most intelligent, smart-mouthed, unique, creative, and intuitive person I have ever had the fortune to meet. I've known him for a month now and to this day I still don't understand why people never seem to see the brilliance in him, not the way I do at least. Sure when I first met him I thought he was an arrogant smart ass, but there is so much more to him than people ever bother to notice. I don't care that he sits weirdly or that he speaks funnily or that his hair looks as if it's never seen a brush or that he dresses like a homeless minimalist; he's my... best friend, and I enjoy every second of it." Light paused for a moment, "Well maybe not when he eats all of the sweets in my house, but other than that he's pretty much perfect. I'm only going to say this once; Ryuzaki. Is. Not. A. Freak."

And with that he slammed his locker door shut, turned away from Mikami's stunned looking face, and stalked away, making sure to stop at the nearest trash can to let him watch as he pulled the slip of paper with Mikami's number on it out of his pocket and toss it away forever.

Light was still fuming as he neared the empty classroom he and Ryuzaki had agreed to meet up in. He threw open the door to find him perched on one of the desks watching something on his phone. It wasn't until Light cleared his throat loudly that Ryuzaki realized he had entered the room.

He glanced up, a soft smile on his face, "Homeless minimalist?"

Light blinked in surprise, "Well it's true." he defended.

Ryuzaki pressed his lips together to keep from laughing and turned his phone to show Light the screen. It displayed a video of the scene that had just gone down in the hallway between Mikami and himself.

Light's eyes widened, "How...?"

His smirk grew wider, "Misa sent me a video of what happened. Light Yagami... I didn't know you could be so sweet..." he fluttered his eyelashes and stuck out his bottom lip, obviously trying to act mockingly cute.

"Shut up." Light grumbled, "He called you a freak."

"I've been called worse. In fact just last week I believe you called me a - "

"That's beside the point." he pouted, "Plus we're dating so anything I call you is a term of endearment."

Ryuzaki perked up, "Dating?"

Light felt a moment of insecurity; were they dating? But quickly shook it off, "Well considering what happened last night I would assume so."

The corner of his mouth quirked up, "Ahh, but 'dating' implies that we've been on an actual date."

"Last night doesn't count?"

"Nope." He slid off the desk, "But tonight will. What do you say Light, dinner and a movie?"

Light's eyes narrowed, "Are you suggesting we go along with Misa's plan? You do realize that she'll use this as bragging rights to say that she set us up together."

"Yes but it will get her off of our backs for at least a little while... Besides, this way you can tell your father that you went out with the girls, and we can actually go on a real first date." he moved closer and Light felt his breath ghost across his lips. "So what do you say, is it a date?"

Light rolled his eyes, "This is cheating." Yet he still felt his resolve waver as Ryuzaki's hands began to toy with the edge of his shirt, "Fine, fine, you win. It's a date."

Any thoughts he had been mulling over Misa's impending torment were pushed back as Ryuzaki closed the distance between their mouths.

Light groaned slightly and wove his fingers through Ryuzaki's messy hair. All too soon, he remembered where they were and what they had yet to do and pulled back slightly, "There'll be time for this later," he managed to say, regretting his decision to stop as he noticed Ryuzaki's eyes dart downwards to his lips, "right now we have to search the new classroom before the cleaning staff get to it."

"We have about an hour before the custodians make their rounds of the building." he replied, "But we do need to get there before Juuzo comes back from the teacher's conference. Do you have the picture of the note?"

In response Light pulled out the slightly crumpled photograph from his pocket.

He nodded, "Good. Let's go."

L P.O.V.

"Do you know which classroom it is?" Light asked as they entered the science wing.

L nodded, "I found out from the new headmaster this morning when I helped her carry the vase into her office."

His eyes narrowed, "You cut your hand purposely in order to guilt this information from her didn't you?"

"Of course not." he replied indignantly, "Perhaps my hand simply happened to slip, and the blood simply happened to help me to convince her to tell me."

"I can't believe you cut yourself to get information we could have discovered from any other teacher in the building." Light glared at him even as they came to a stop by the new classroom, the bronze placard reading 42.

"I didn't, remember? Besides, we're here now so there's no use arguing this." He opened the door and slipped inside before Light could continue his lecture. He hurried to the desk and pulled open the first drawer he saw, quickly rifling through it and moving on to the next, looking for something specific...

"Fine. But we're definitely discussing this later..." Light muttered as he began sifting through the papers on the desk, "Wow, these assignments seem so easy."

L didn't answer as he tugged open the top left drawer to the desk and pushed aside a stack of papers. His eyes widened as he took notice of what was hidden underneath.

"Here, I found a clear copy of his handwriting. It's a reminder note to himself so hopefully he won't remember to look for it later." Light held up the slip of paper he had found next to the photograph of the note.

L held his breath, even though he knew what Light would discover. His eyes widened in apparent victory and a grin spread across his face, "It's a match! The handwriting matches which means Juuzo is definitely the killer!"

L grinned despite the pain in his chest, as he watched Light's face light up with happiness. Hopefully the case would be over soon, though afterwards he wasn't sure what the future would hold for the two of them. Perhaps he would stay for the remainder of the school year... His successors could survive just a little bit longer without him.

L opened his mouth to respond when he suddenly heard the faint sound of footsteps approaching the door to the classroom. Thinking quickly, he snatched up the object from the drawer and slammed it shut, hastily grabbing Light, who had gone back to studying the handwriting, and dragged him to the cabinet in the back of the room, just managing to pull the door shut behind them as a man rushed into the room.

L cracked open the door to the cabinet slightly as Light positioned himself beside him so that they could both catch a glimpse of the person currently rustling around at the desk.

"Is that Mr. Obata?" Light whispered.

It was. Their literature teacher was hunched over the now thoroughly strip-searched desk, sorting through the contents of the drawer they had recently gone through.

Coincidence? L doubted it.

It was a few minutes before L began to wonder how long it would take him to search the entire desk. Just as the thought crossed his mind Obata straightened up and glanced around the room, probably for more potential hiding places, when his eyes locked on their cabinet.

L's heart momentarily stopped beating. If they were found there his entire plan would be ruined, Juuzo would become suspicious, Light's life would be in even greater danger...

L braced himself for discovery when suddenly the door slammed open and Juuzo burst into the room. Obata's hand, which had been inches from the cabinet's handle, snapped back and he turned to face the angry biologist.

"I knew it! The second you left the meeting I knew you would be here!" Juuzo shouted, pointing an accusing finger towards Obata.

He then marched over to his desk and yanked the top left drawer completely from its place and turned it over so that the contents spilled out unceremoniously onto the floor at his feet. He kicked at the pile of papers and assorted writing utensils, and then glared up at Obata, fury etched plainly across his face.

"You took it." he spoke in a dangerously low voice, then, "YOU TOOK IT!"

Obata raised his hands in the air as though in surrender, "I-I don't know what you're-"

"LIES! I KNOW YOU TOOK IT!" Juuzo made to lunge towards Obata when the door flew open once again, and a third adult entered the room.

"What on earth is going on in here!?" L recognized the new principal as she placed her hands on her hips and gave the two men a withering look, "This is school property, and you are both respected educators, so I expect you to act like it! I want both of you back at the meeting in the next few minutes, and I fully expect you to sort out whatever problem you have between the two of you on your own time! Honestly, what with the murders and the board threatening closure, you'd think that the teachers would at least step up and show some responsibility."

And with that she ushered the two shamefaced men out into the hallway, slamming the door behind her.

L waited a few seconds before cautiously stepping out of the cabinet, Light right behind him.

"What the hell was that all about?" Light asked incredulously.

L simply shrugged, his mind whirring as he connected the final puzzle pieces into place; a messy and complicated picture forming in his mind, "I have no idea, I went through that drawer, and I didn't find anything remotely incriminating. Unless you count unfair grading, because that one paper deserved a higher mark..." his shot at humor fell short as Light seemed deep in thought.

"Maybe it was just a personal matter. Nothing having to do with the case." L suggested.

He bit his lip, "Maybe, for now though we should probably get out of here in case someone comes back."

L nodded quickly and followed him to the front entrance in silence, both of them in deep contemplation.

"I'll see you later." Light said to him as Watari pulled up to the curb, leaning in for a quick kiss before starting off down the street towards his home.

L smiled and watched him leave before climbing into the backseat.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Watari asked without preamble.

"Yes." He replied, pulling out the little baggie filled with multicolored capsules, "That and more..."


	14. "Blind" Date

Light P.O.V.

Light leaned up against the brick wall of the Italian style restaurant, gazing toward the bustling cinema just across the street, and remembering the last time he had met up with Ryuzaki there. Hopefully this time wouldn't involve a murder and an argument.

"Light Yagami, early as usual."

Light felt a tug at the corners of his lips at the familiar sarcastic tone.

"And you're late, as usual." he smirked at Ryuzaki, raising an eyebrow as he took in the white button up he had swapped his normal dingy t-shirt for.

He waved a hand through the air flippantly, "It's better to be late than to be early."

Light frowned, "Doesn't that saying normally go the other way around?"

"Not the way I say it." he smirked, "I like people who are always late better than people who are always early. People who are early to everything always seem to think it makes them superior to everyone else."

"And yet you're on a date with the most punctual person in the entire Kanto region." He had accepted this fact by now, as well as the fact that practically no one else shared his passion for being on time to anything and everything.

"Well I never said that I had good taste in men."

Light rolled his eyes, trying not to focus on the way Ryuzaki's "nice" jeans hugged his legs, in stark contrast to his usual faded denims which always seemed in danger of falling off of his body. "Are we going to go inside or are we going to stand here and insult me all night?"

He pretended to consider this for a moment, "I'm enjoying myself out here actually, maybe we could start on your love for khakis next, since you seem to like admiring my own choice in leg-wear." he smirked at Light.

Sighing, Light took hold of his wrist and pulled him into the restaurant, trying to hide his blush from Ryuzaki as he continued insulting his pants.

"I'm serious Light, it's becoming a problem... Kiyomi suggested the other day that we hold an intervention, but Misa insisted that we should support your choices when it comes to fashion. I mean of course she would say that, being a model and all..."

He halted his rant as they were lead to a booth in the far back of the main dining area, next to the doors to the kitchen and some rather large potted plants. Light stared suspiciously at the plants but eventually determined that Misa wasn't hidden behind either of them; though he had no doubt that she would turn up at some point in the night. He was just hoping that it wouldn't be too embarrassing when she did.

They each ordered a water to the dismay of the waitress, and then were left in comfortable silence as he went back to suspiciously eyeing the plants.

"So did Misa make up an excuse yet as to why she and Kiyomi couldn't make it tonight?" Ryuzaki asked while surveying the menu laid out in front of him.

Light snorted, "Yeah, she texted me twenty minutes ago saying that she broke her hand and Kiyomi was taking her to the hospital."

Ryuzaki frowned, "I don't understand how she expected us to fall for that, you think she would know us well enough to know that we would figure out she's lying due to the fact that she used her "broken" hand to text you. That and we're obviously going to see tomorrow in school that she isn't wearing a cast."

Light shrugged in response, "My guess is that she figures by tomorrow we'll be a couple and then she can use her unbroken hand as proof that it was her plan to set us up all along."

Ryuzaki nodded, "Misa is smarter than we give her credit for."

"Yeah," Light replied, still watching him sort through the menu, "she'll surprise you once in a while."

Ryuzaki glanced up and eyed Light's closed menu, "Are you not going to look through that?"

"I already know what I'm getting..." Light smiled knowingly, "If you want you can order a dessert instead of dinner."

The corner of his lips twitched upwards, "You know me so well." And with that he shut his menu and curled up into his usual sitting position.

"Do you both know what you want?" The waitress was back and was holding out her hand for their menus.

Light ended up ordering the Fettuccine Alfredo, while Ryuzaki ordered a slice of something called a canoli cheese cake, which sounded revoltingly sweet and sugary.

They handed their menus back to the waitress, who gave Ryuzaki an odd once-over before striding away to place their orders.

The two of them held a comfortable conversation while waiting for their food to arrive, both of them consciously avoiding the subject of the investigation. They had made an unspoken agreement not to bring the case to their first date.

Overall, Light was surprised at how well the night was going. So far they had yet to argue once, which was a pretty impressive feat for them, and Misa hadn't shown up, though they both kept a weather eye out for her just in case.

The booth they were seated in was far enough back that the closest people to them were at least three tables away. It was a cozy little corner, and they were able to flirt back and forth without drawing the eye of the other dinner patrons. Light had suspected that Misa reserved this particular table for that very purpose, and was currently battling feelings of both gratitude and suspicion.

"Hmm... I had expected Misa to show up by now," Ryuzaki glanced around the room, as though he expected her to pop out from behind a nearby table and attack them, which wasn't an outrageous thing to expect from her, "either she really is going to leave us to our own devices, or her espionage skills are better than I imagined."

Light shuddered involuntarily, "That's a scary thought."

"Your food good sirs!" A waitress skipped lightly over to the table and set their food in front of them with a little curtsy, "Would you like anything else?"

Light's eyes narrowed, "No that's alright... What happened to the other waitress, if you don't mind my asking?"

Her smile didn't waver for a second, "Oh, Rize had to help out with another group that just came in, so I'll be your server for the rest of the night! Is that alright?" She winked at him.

The girl was dressed in a standard serving uniform, though with the addition of long dangly skull earrings. She was rather small in stature and had short black hair and glasses.

"Yes that's fine, thank you." Ryuzaki answered for him, and picked up his fork.

Light followed suit, starting in on his bowl of pasta, as the girl flounced away toward the kitchens.

When she was gone he glanced up and met Ryuzaki's eye, "You don't think..."

He nodded curtly, "That was Misa. She called the other waitress "Rize", but I noticed the girl's nametag read 'Touka' when she brought our drinks."

"Plus her earrings," Light rolled his eyes, "servers aren't supposed to wear dangly jewelry." It was just like Misa to forgo a minor detail like that in the name of fashion.

"Well at least she finally showed up... I was starting to become paranoid." Ryuzaki muttered.

Light nodded but said nothing, knowing Misa she had some sort of trick up her sleeve, and he wasn't exactly giddy to find out what it was...

Misa P.O.V.

Misa skipped happily away from the table, contented with her awesome disguise. Not even Light Yagami would be able to see through this!

Just as she passed by the potted plants Misa felt a hand on her wrist dragging her downwards. She yelped in surprise even though she knew who had grabbed her.

"Ouch, don't do that!" She complained, rubbing her wrist where Kiyomi had yanked on it.

"How are they doing? Have they kissed yet?" her face was serious, and Misa admired her determination to help their best friends find true love.

"It's going great!" She replied happily, "They've been laughing and flirting since they got here. I bet they'll be making out through the entire movie." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Kiyomi pretended to vomit, "Ugh... don't say things like that."

"Like what?" Misa smirked at her, "Such as how by the time they leave here they'll want each other so badly that they might even skip the movie?"

Kiyomi started to look seriously ill, "I've been here all of ten minutes and I already feel the need to be sick... allll over your new shoes..."

Misa gasped, "You wouldn't!"

"I will if you don't shut up." Kiyomi glared at her.

"Alright alright! No need to be mean..." Misa pouted.

"Hey..." Kiyomi eyed her up and down, "how did you manage to become a waitress here?"

Misa grinned evilly, "I gave the head waiter an invitation to my modeling agency's party next weekend in exchange for me to be able to pose as a waitress for the night."

Kiyomi just stared in amazement, "You know you're pretty sneaky when you want to be."

"I know. I'm kind of an evil genius." Misa smirked at her and stuck out her tongue.

"I'm starting to think you are..." she muttered in response.

"Hold on, it's time for me to bring them the bill..." her smirk grew wider, "this should be fun."

L P.O.V.

Dinner went pretty smoothly in Ryuzaki's opinion, they chatted about one thing or another, and occasionally brushed hands across the table. They were afraid to actually hold hands lest Misa catch sight of them from wherever she was no doubt hiding, but they were okay with small touches for the moment.

All in all the dinner portion of their first date went extremely well... up until it came time to pay the bill.

When they had both finished their meals, Misa came bounding up to the table, bill in hand, and asked them how their dining experience had gone. They both somehow managed to resist calling her out on her disguise, and responded politely that they had had a wonderful time.

She went to place the bill on the table when she suddenly paused, "You know you two are just such an adorable couple that I think I'll give you a discount on your meal!"

They glanced quickly at one another, sensing a trap.

"Thank you..." L said slowly, "That's very kind of you..."

"Mhm," she hummed, an evil lilt to her smile, "and if you kiss each other on the lips your meal will be free!"

L nearly sighed in relief. Of all of the evil traps and plans he imagined she could have come up with, this one was by far the easiest to go along with. He looked to Light who simply shrugged and leaned forward. Ryuzaki met him halfway.

"Yes! Misa wins!"

They broke apart and stared at her, she was jumping up and down, clutching the receipt against her chest as she announced her victory.

"Misa?" He asked calmly.

"Yep it's me!" she pulled off the wig to reveal her usual blonde pigtails, "I totally got you guys together!"

"Got us together?" Light asked.

"Yep! Me and Kiyomi set you up on this blind date! See, she's right over there." she pointed to the nearest potted plant where Kiyomi was standing, and examining her nails with a bored expression.

"Was it a blind date?" L asked.

"Yes!" her triumphant expression suddenly morphed into a pout, "why aren't you both freaking out!? You don't even seem surprised at all!"

They took one glance at one another and burst out laughing.

"That's because we saw through your plan from the second you asked us out to dinner." Light replied nonchalantly.

"Plus," L reached out across the table and took Light's hand in his, "We've been together since yesterday."

"WHAT!?" Misa shrieked, causing the people seated at the table closest to them to glance over in panic, "And you didn't tell me!?"

"We thought we'd let you figure it out on your own." Light snickered, amused by her reaction.

"That's so mean!" hey expression then lightened, "But I'm so happy for you guys!" she launched herself onto Ryuzaki in an overwhelming bear hug, before attacking Light next.

After that the four of them stayed at the restaurant for a while, discussing their relationship before making their way to the cinema as a group, Misa and Kiyomi running off to get their own seats once they had bought tickets.

"Well that went better than I imagined." L announced once they were settled comfortably into their seats in the back row.

"Says the one who insisted we go along with her plan in the first place." Light rolled his eyes and put an arm across his shoulders. Ryuzaki laid his head on Light's shoulder and glanced over at the girls a few rows ahead of them. Misa kept turning around and making a heart shape with her hands.

"True." He replied simply.

The movie wasn't nearly as bad as he had expected it to be, instead of a cheesy romantic comedy, Misa had actually chosen a murder mystery movie for them to watch, which they were both extremely grateful for. The experience was rather enjoyable, though L could have done without the handfuls of popcorn thrown at them whenever they tried to kiss one another.

When they left the theatre Ryuzaki suggested they walk home and Light agreed, and quickly sent Misa away before she could follow. The walk was perfect; it was dark enough that they were able to hold hands, though L could just make out the faint outline of the moon behind the clouds and light pollution. Light's happiness was nearly tangible, and L found himself nearly giddy as well. It was amazing how they had known one another for a month and a half by then, and yet the butterflies still had not left his stomach. L hoped they would never leave.

All too soon they neared L's apartment building, and the two of them slowed down, neither wanting the night to end.

"You know as first dates go this was probably the best I've ever been on." Light said happily as he swung their joined hands to the beat of their footsteps.

"Oh?" L replied, "I don't suppose that means we should go on another date soon..." he wiggled his eyebrows at him.

"Yes we definitely should." he smiled before stopping and cupping Ryuzaki's cheeks, bringing L's mouth up to his.

L hooked a finger in his belt loop and pulled him closer before kissing him back. Light twirled his fingers through L's hair and L once again felt the overwhelming sense of finally coming home.

"You have no idea how much I've wanted to do that all night." he moaned as they broke apart.

"Oh I think I have some idea of how much you wanted to." Ryuzaki replied, tracing circles on Light's waist with his thumbs.

He moaned slightly, "I wish I could stay the night, but we both know I have to get home before my father..." he gazed at L longingly and L felt a twinge of pity for him, having to deal with his father.

It will get better. L convinced himself. His father will come to see reason.

"Well then I'll see you tomorrow." L leaned up and kissed him briefly before turning and starting up the walkway.

When he reached the door he turned around to watch as Light disappeared down the street and into the night. He sighed, wondering what would happen when it came time for him to leave Japan.


	15. Sleepover Part 3

Light P.O.V.

"Ryuzaki."

"Hmm?"

"Are you going to help or not?" Light frowned down at Ryuzaki's head, which happened to be resting in his lap, blocking his view of the computer screen.

"Can't we take a break first?" He gazed up at Light imploringly, his eyes widening ever so slightly, making them distractingly endearing, "This is the first time we've been able to be together outside of school since our first date last week, and all you want to discuss is the case." He stuck out his lip in a pout.

"That's because this is the only time we have to talk about it. We can't talk about it in school in case someone overhears, so now is our only time to come up with a plan before the killer strikes again." No matter how tempting it was to abandon his resolve and spend an hour or two just lying around doing nothing, Light had to make sure that Ryuzaki was kept in the dark about his hidden agenda to use himself as bait to end the case. In order to do that he would have to keep up a pretense of working hard on the case.

"It's only Wednesday, we still have three days until the weekend, and the killer still may not even strike again this week." he continued, "Plus, with our minds it would really only take the two of us a few minutes to come up with an adequate plan."

Light simply sighed in response and ran a hand through his hair, catching a strand and twirling it between his fingers. Light mulled his words over for a minute. He was right of course, though Light wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

"How long is it before you have to be home?" he persisted.

Light sighed, "I told my mother that I was working on a project for school, which means she would expect me back for dinner at the latest."

"What if you stayed the night?"

Light blinked in surprise, "My parents would never allow that. Ever since the... incident with my father they've been extremely reluctant to let me out of their sight. Not to mention the fact that it's a school night in the middle of the week."

Ryuzaki sat up and reached for Light's phone, which he had set down on the nightstand when they had first entered the room, "Just say that the project is taking longer than you expected and you may have to pull an all-nighter."

"But what about when she offers to bring me clothes for tomorrow?"

He narrowed his eyes, "We both know that you always keep a spare set of clothes in your book bag for emergencies." he pressed the phone into Light's hands, "It can't hurt to ask."

Light thought about it for a moment, and tiny amount of hope flared in his chest. After a week without being able to so much as hold hands with Ryuzaki, it had felt like he was slowly and painfully dying from the inside out. Spending the night in his apartment would be really nice...

"Fine, I'll try." Light took the phone from him and flipped it open, "But I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you."

Ryuzaki's face broke out in a grin as though he had expected Light to say no, and proceeded to wrap his arms around his shoulders.

Light's mom picked up on the third ring, "Light? Are you done with the project already?"

"No mom, we're not nearly finished..." Light fidgeted, reluctant to lie to his own mother, "In fact, I was thinking that I might stay the night here in order to get it done on time."

"But honey, it's a school night." she sounded worried, though he couldn't blame her; with his attendance record it was hard to believe that he would willingly jeopardize his reputation.

"I know, but all of my homework was done three days ago, and this project is worth almost a quarter of our final grade..." Light hoped that she would pick up on his tone of desperation and give in.

"Remind me again who you are working on the project with?"

Light froze for a moment before Ryuzaki leaned in and whispered a name in his ear, "Teru Mikami," he blurted out, "the class president."

"Mikami?" she asked, "As in the son of the famous prosecution lawyer?"

"Yes mom, that's him." Light rolled his eyes, knowing that she would trust his story from then on.

Her sigh was audible even through the phone, "Alright fine, I give you my permission... are you able to get a ride to school tomorrow morning? Do you need a spare set of clothes?"

"You give me your permission?" Light reiterated, utterly astounded that she had given in so easily. Ryuzaki tightened his grip around his shoulders in victory.

"Yes. Now do you need a ride or a change of clothes for tomorrow?"

"No that's alright," Light replied, trying to keep his voice from betraying his delight at being able to stay, "I have a spare set of clothes in my bag, and his house is within walking distance from the school."

"Well alright then." she sighed yet again, "I suppose I'll see you tomorrow when you get home. Have fun with your... project." She paused before the word project as though tempted to call it something else and Light wondered if she had actually bought his story, and if she suspected where else he might be.

"See you then!" He said quickly and snapped the phone shut before she could call him out on his fib.

"I told you it would work." Ryuzaki gave him a smug look.

Light snorted, "I believe your words were, 'it can't hurt to ask'."

"Close enough..." Ryuzaki mumbled, kissing his neck.

"Oh no you don't." Light lifted his arms from around his shoulders and leaned back slightly, "First we come up with a plan, and then we celebrate."

He pouted for a moment, but then gave in with a sigh and curled his knees to his chest, "Well first of all we need to figure out how exactly to lure out Juuzo."

"Right," Light replied, opening up a blank word document to take notes on, "Weren't we going to use Misa for that?"

He nodded thoughtfully, "Yes, but we should at least ask her permission first."

"Obviously. But I'm sure she would agree, Misa's parents were killed by a murderer when she was younger so I'm sure she would love to do anything in her power to help us solve the case, especially since we're the ones asking." He typed Misa's name with an arrow to the word 'bait'.

"The location of course would be the biology lab." he bit the tip of his thumb lightly as he always did when he was deep in thought, "Obviously all we would have to do is get Juuzo to go the lab with Misa and then tip off your father and the rest of the NPA... Of course we would have to be watching from a close distance so that we can interfere if he attacks before the police get there..."

Light typed all of this as he was speaking, "The only problem is how we are going to get them to go to the lab together and when."

"Perhaps this Saturday? We could have Misa e-mail Juuzo through her school e-mail address saying that she left something important in the room and if he could unlock the door for her to get it back. It may not work, but I can't imagine that he would turn down the easy opportunity to get her alone." he paused, "though we may need to entice him bit first... perhaps we should ask Misa to flirt with him after class beforehand or something."

Light nodded, "That should work, although we will need to keep a close protective eye over Misa until the time comes to catch him. If he gets to her before we're ready then Misa could lose her life." he shook his head, wondering what sort of friends they were that they planned to ask this of her.

"I'm sure she'll be happy to help us." Ryuzaki reassured him as though he had read Light's mind; and by that point Light was nearly convinced he could.

"That's what I'm worried about..." Light mumbled, "I've been friends with Misa for years, if something were to happen to her I would never forgive myself."

"I don't believe I would be able to forgive myself either..." Ryuzaki concurred, leaning in to him and resting his head on Light's shoulder, "But ultimately it's up to her whether she wants to help out or not, if she does choose to then it's her choice."

Light decided that he was right. He slowly slid the laptop shut and leaned over to place it on the floor next to the bed. When he straightened up Ryuzaki's arms were immediately around him. Light barely had enough time to turn his head before Ryuzaki's lips were on his. Light kissed back hungrily, feeling himself truly relax for the first time in a week. He supposed he should have noticed how dependent they were becoming on one another, but Ryuzaki was like a drug to Light; he didn't realize just how much he needed him until they were forced to be apart.

Light pulled back slightly, just to the point where their lips were barely brushing up against one another, "Wait." He said against Ryuzaki's mouth, "We need to tell Watari that I'm staying the night first."

Ryuzaki made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat, but complied without too much complaint. He grabbed Light's hand and led him out into the living room where they found Watari sitting in one of the plush armchairs engrossed in a newspaper that looked as if it were written in Arabic. Light wasn't very surprised; Watari seemed the type of person to be a polyglot.

"Watari." he looked up as Ryuzaki called his name, "Light will be staying the night here if that is alright with you."

Watari narrowed his eyes at the two of them and Light realized that Ryuzaki had told him. Or perhaps he had guessed, but either way he knew about them and Light couldn't imagine any self-respecting parental figure that would allow them to share a bed -

"Alright, I trust you Ryuzaki, and you Light." he gave them a short nod and then went back to reading his Arabic newspaper.

"Thank you Watari." Ryuzaki turned and headed back to his bedroom, Light managed a quick "Thank you" before hurrying to catch up with him.

"I can't believe he allowed me to stay over." He muttered.

"Why? He trusts my judgment, and yours as well. It's not as though we've given him any reason not to."

Light wished his own parents had the same respect for him as Watari did for Ryuzaki.

They entered the room and Ryuzaki quickly shut the door. Light stepped forward before Ryuzaki even had a chance to move, placing his hands flat against the wood of the door on either side of Ryuzaki's shoulders. Leaning in close to his ear, he whispered, "Well maybe we should give him a reason." 

With that Light shifted closer in order to trail small kisses from the edge of Ryuzaki's jaw to the base of his throat where he bit down slightly, just enough to leave a small indent. Ryuzaki moaned softly before hooking his fingers through the belt loops on Light's pants and pulling him even closer. Light twirled his tongue against the mark he had made, satisfied with the whimpering noises it drew from Ryuzaki.

Unable to stand it any longer, Ryuzaki placed his hands on either side of Light's face and brought it up to meet his. Light's hands drifted to his waist where they contented themselves with rubbing circles on his hips right above the waistband of his jeans.

Ryuzaki's hands moved to the buttons on Light's shirt, and then over his bare chest. Light shivered and shrugged the fabric from his shoulders, temporarily disregarding the fact that it landed in a crumpled heap on the floor (he would have to iron it twice in order to get those wrinkles out). He felt Ryuzaki's cool fingertips make their way up his back, feeling the muscles, tracing the contours, as though committing it to memory. Which he probably was.

Light wrapped his arms around his waist and began to walk backwards, the two of them stumbling but not breaking contact, until the backs of his legs hit the edge of the bed. Ryuzaki wasted no time in shoving him backwards; Light pulled him along and they landed on the bed in a heap, with Ryuzaki lying on his chest.

Light gazed up at him through half lidded eyes, the sight of his kiss-swollen lips and pink tinged cheeks were extremely endearing. Light leaned up and drew his tongue against Ryuzaki's bottom lip, his hands drifting to the edge of his t-shirt. He pushed it up, trailing his hand across his back, and Ryuzaki shivered in response. He sat back slightly, but only long enough to pull his shirt up over his head, and quickly toss it across the room.

Light ran his hands across his - surprisingly fit - chest, and up over his shoulders so that he could hook them around his neck and draw him in for another breath-taking kiss.

It was liberating in a way, being this close to one another without the confines of fabric between them. Light's skin felt as though it had caught on fire in every place that it touched his, and his spine was alight with what felt like an electrical current running through it. His heart, of course, felt as though it was about to burst, only in a good way. The only words he had to describe the sensation were a jumbled mess in his dopamine riddled mind. 

Light slid his leg between Ryuzaki's and hooked their ankles together, his corresponding hand reaching over to grip Ryuzaki's shoulder. He figured out what he was up to too late when Light expertly flipped him over so that Ryuzaki was the one with his back pressed into the pillows.

He propped himself up on his elbows, forcing Light back a few inches, "Where oh where did you learn that technique?" he whispered, leaning his forehead against Light's and staring into his eyes, his lips agonizingly close.

"You're not the only one who has a few martial arts tricks up his sleeve." Light gave him a coy smile before leaning forward so that Ryuzaki's head rested back on the blankets and Light's face was a mere centimeter from his. Ryuzaki slipped his hands into Light's back pockets. Light smiled and caught his lips with his once again.

Light couldn't say how long they kept this up, but when they finally did break apart the sky beyond the windows had started to dim and the room had begun to grow dark. For a little while they both simply lay on top of the blankets, Light on his back and Ryuzaki curled up at his side, his head on Light's chest, and Light's arms curled around him possessively. He couldn't imagine anything else in the world that could have made him happier in that moment.

"Light..." Ryuzaki mumbled against his collarbone.

"Yes?"

Without raising his head Ryuzaki sighed, "I think I love you."

L P.O.V.

"I think I love you." Wait. Halt. Freeze. Stop.

Wait a moment. The side of his brain that hadn't lost the ability of rational though butted in. They had been together exactly one week and three days... wasn't this a bit premature?

His heart faltered for a moment, but looking up into Light's eyes, he realized the truth of the words he had just blurted out unthinkingly. Ryuzaki realized just how much he had missed Light in the past week, he realized just how much of his heart Light had taken over, he realized how much it would hurt to let Light go.

"I think I love you too..." he whispered back, and kissed L's forehead, "No. I know I love you too." he met L's eyes with such certainty that it strangely made him want to cry.

"What are we going to do?" L whispered, "Light, your parents hate me, we graduate soon..." he would return to England and go back to being L.

"Stop." He said not unkindly, "We'll figure it out when we get there." Light hugged him tighter and sighed in contentment. L was not so reassured. He could tell him he loved him but he couldn't tell him his real name? How utterly fucked up was that.

Light's breathing quickly became slow and deep, informing L he had fallen asleep. Very very slowly, L extricated myself from Light's sleeping form, which was admittedly rather difficult, considering the extent to which they were wrapped around one another.

Once he had managed to escape the bed, a quick glance about the room revealed where his shirt had landed. L pulled it over his head and opened the door as quietly as he could, praying to every deity imaginable that Light wouldn't wake up.

Silently, he padded down the hallway to the living room where he knew Watari would still be reading his newspaper. Wordlessly, he sat down heavily on the couch beside him, his eyes boring holes in the tops of his knees, which were curled to his chest as usual.

"I love him." L stated plainly, no preamble necessary.

"I know." He replied.

"I want to tell him." L hadn't needed to specify what.

"Go ahead." He said evenly.

L glanced up sharply, "What do you mean "Go ahead?" Tell him? Just like that?"

Watari finally set down his newspaper, "Well I don't see why not."

L just stared at him incredulously.

He sighed as though he were a thousand years old and had seen this sort of thing many times before, "You love him, and that is a marvelous thing. I will admit that I was starting to become worried about you. I could not remember the last time you had spoken to another human being, with the exception of myself, Roger, and the boys of course."

"But what if I'm wrong? What if it turns out that we aren't right for each other?" His heart nearly broke just thinking about such a thing happening, "Telling him our true identities could be the same as risking everything."

"I realize this." Watari's expression grew serious, "But what the two of you have is special, and to love is to take a chance. What would life be without a little risk?"

L contemplated his words, and went through the events that had happened since Light had given him the unnecessary tour. His chest filled with warmth as he pictured Light smiling at him genuinely over the piles of homework spread between them in the school library, L saw him concentrating in class, his nose scrunching up in the way it always did when he was frustrated, his laughter when L made a sarcastic comment to Kiyomi, the warmth of his hands, the feel of his lips...

"I just want to see you experience a happy ending." Watari broke through his reverie, and stood up, turning off the lights as he made his way to his own bedroom, leaving L alone in the dark with only his thoughts to keep him company.

L woke up the next morning back in Light's arms, only vaguely remembering climbing back into them.

"Mmm," Light moaned slightly, his eyes blinking groggily, "morning."

L smiled, "Morning."

Light's arms curled tighter around him, and he dreaded the moment they would have to get up. School be damned, he had known everything they were being taught since the age of ten. Even as he thought this he knew that Light would not give up his perfect attendance record, no matter how enticing the idea of spending the day cuddling in bed was.

Soon enough though, they were forced out of bed and L went to the kitchen for a cup of sugar with a dash of tea while Light took a quick shower. Watari was ghosting around the kitchen as usual, preparing what looked like an omelet for his and Light's breakfast.

"Did you tell him?" was the first thing Watari asked as L counted out the right number of sugar cubes for his tea.

"I decided to wait until after we finish with the case." L replied, dropping exactly seven into the steaming cup, the eighth making a direct trip to his mouth.

"A wise choice." Watari nodded and flipped the frying pan upward, the cooking eggs folding neatly into a perfect omelet, "I'll assume you have a plan of action in order to bring the investigation to a close?"

"Yes of course." L replied, reaching for a spoon to stir his now heterogeneous concoction, "I will use Misa to draw out the killer exactly one day before the date Light and I agreed on for our plan, and I will contact Aiber and Weddy to apprehend the killer the moment he makes his move. Misa will be relatively safe, and Light will be far from the scene where the killer will not be able to harm him. Light and I will share the credit of course, seeing as he and I shared an equal part in the detective work, but I cannot justify putting him in harm's way, especially since the killer has made specific threats towards his well being."

"Perhaps you are not putting enough faith in him?" Watari slid the first finished omelet onto a plate and began cracking more eggs into a bowl for the second one, "I'm sure he can handle it, plus now that the killer has made a direct threat wouldn't you say he is constantly in danger?"

"Not if I catch this maggot first." He replied firmly, using Near's favorite adjective for the gross and unworthy.

"You are also withholding information from him, what if he decides to act on his own as well? Without those puzzle pieces he may find himself in greater danger than he would have been in if you had told him beforehand."

"No." He replied petulantly, "I will end the investigation without putting him in harm's way."

"If you say so." And with that Watari went back to his omelets and he to his tea, just as Light entered the kitchen, his hair dripping and slightly mussed.


	16. Thomas Hardy

Light P.O.V.

"Misa, we need to ask you something." Light sat across from her and met her eyes in an attempt to convey the gravity of what he was about to say, "It's extremely important."

She blinked in surprise and set her magazine down, glancing up at them from across the library table. Her eyes narrowed and a smirk grew across her lips, informing Light he had failed miserably. "Let me guess, you want me to be a bridesmaid at your wedding? I'll do it! But only if I can wear a black dress because that's kind of a deal breaker for me."

The look in her eyes told Light that black dress or no, she would never pass up the opportunity to harass them at their own wedding. Light simply rolled his eyes and Ryuzaki responded, "You can wear whatever you like, Light and I aren't particular."

Light felt a blush spread across his cheeks and kicked Ryuzaki underneath the table. Hearing them talk about a wedding when he wasn't even certain he'd survive the weekend did nothing but set his teeth on edge. "That wasn't the question." Light reminded them pointedly, "We're investigating a crime and we would like your help to catch the perpetrator."

To his astonishment, Misa didn't look remotely surprised at this information. "You want me to be bait for the sicko who's been killing off girls at our school." It was a statement, not a question.

Light glanced at Ryuzaki, whose face mirrored his own astonishment, then back to her, "How did you-"

"We all know you want to be a detective, Light. I didn't think you would turn up this opportunity. Plus all of the victims were girls who looked similar to me - but not exactly because it's hard to compete with my gorgeous looks - and now you two are coming to me for help. I'm not as dumb as you think!" she pouted for a moment.

"No, you're not dumb or we wouldn't have come to you to help us out." Ryuzaki replied smoothly, "I can't promise that it won't be dangerous, or that you won't get hurt... but Light and I will be there the whole time to make sure everything goes to plan. We can give you to the end of the day to think about it if you need to."

Ryuzaki glanced over at him and the two of them made to stand up. Before they turned to leave Light caught her eye and said, "Thank you for considering this, Misa, it means a lot to the both of us."

They barely made it two steps toward the door before her cry of protest rose up, "Wait!" Light turned to see her standing straight, her arms crossed over her chest and a determined expression across her features, "I'll help with anything you need. I can handle it, just tell me what to do."

Light met Ryuzaki's eye as they reclaimed their seats. Success. Light explained the entirety of their flimsy plan to her, and when he was done she seemed surprised.

"Huh, this plan sounds pretty simple for the two of you."

Light inwardly flinched. "Sometimes simple is better." He tried to dismiss her comment. "So basically all I have to do is flirt with Juuzo, and then on Saturday lure him to the school? Piece of cake!" she summarized, then, "But you two will seriously owe me one."

"What? Why?" Light frowned, owing Misa a favor could be potentially disastrous. Especially for the two of them...

"Because I have to flirt with some dusty old teacher! Gross!" She stuck her tongue out and scrunched her nose.

"Okay fine, we'll owe you one." Ryuzaki amended, glancing up at the clock. Three minutes until the end of the day bell rang.

"Should I go "accidentally" bump into him in the hallway?" Misa suggested.

Light nodded, "That's a good idea, because of the time crunch we will have to act as soon as possible... Though at least one of us should stay near you whenever you are with him."

"I'll go with her today." Ryuzaki offered, "We don't know how long this will take, and we can't give your parents any extra reasons to keep you home Saturday."

Light sighed, but acknowledged the truth in his words. Saturday didn't really matter, but if they held him under house arrest the next day, then all hell could potentially break loose, "Fine, but keep me updated."

Ryuzaki nodded in agreement just as the bell rang. The three of them stood and made their way to the door to meet the rush of students heading towards freedom. Ryuzaki's hand brushed his before they turned toward the science wing. Light watched them go until they became lost to the crowd. He sighed heavily before re-positioning his backpack strap on his shoulder and heading to his locker, contemplating the weight of his plan.

L P.O.V.

"So let me get this straight, you want me to ask the killer to go with me to the school one night before the original plan... and not tell Light about it?" Misa demanded, her hands on her hips.

"Yes." L replied nonchalantly, as though it were a common thing for him to ask her to lure a murderer and to betray a close friend.

"No way!" She said indignantly "I'm not betraying Light. Why are you doing this to him anyway?"

He winced, "Please Misa, I need to keep him safe." L tried to convey his desperation to her; an emotion that was still fairly new to him.

Her eyes softened slightly, but her stance sadly did not, "How do you know he's not doing the same thing to you right now? Going behind your back?"

L shook his head, "I would like to believe he wouldn't do that. Plus with his parents on his back all of the time it would be pretty difficult for him."

"If you wouldn't want him to do this to you... then why do it to him?" She had a good point.

Ryuzaki sighed heavily and bit his thumb nail, an anxious habit he had spent years trying to rid himself of. He glanced up finally, "Because I'm a selfish person. And also because... if I were to die, Light would have an easy time finding someone new, but I... I would never be able to find someone like Light again. I would never be able to live with myself if he died."

Misa's eyes began to cloud and he braced himself for impact. "Ryu-kunnn that's so sweet! Of course I'll help you! Love conquers all!"

"Thank you." he managed to choke out, struggling to inhale through her vice-like grip around his ribcage.After a few minutes of enduring her asphyxiating hug, L extricated himself with slight difficulty. "Misa, we need to carry out the plan."

"Right!" She pumped a fist in the air, "Let's go flirt with some old dudes!"

"Right." He sighed, with much less enthusiasm.

Light P.O.V.

With slight apprehension Light ducked into the school's AV room, relieved to see that the club had had enough lack of forethought to leave all of their equipment out. He was sure no one would mind if a few of their new state-of-the-art video cameras went missing for a few days... not if it helped prevent the school from both closing as well as losing another one of its students. He selected the three smallest cameras from the lot, and slipped back into the hallway, making sure to leave everything as it had been when he found it, minus the equipment he had absconded with of course.

When Light arrived back at his house he instructed his mother not to bother him and headed up to his room, locking the door behind himself. He knew she wouldn't come up anyway since he had been giving her and his father the cold shoulder, but he had to be absolutely sure. Light couldn't have them questioning him at this stage of the game.

It took a couple of hours, and a quick Google search, but Light managed to reprogram the equipment the way he needed; stage one was complete, now there were only four more to tick off before he would be ready to confront the killer. For tonight however, he had only one more task to complete, but that would have to wait until his parents fell asleep; which meant he had a good three hours to kill. Light leaned over his messily scribbled notes to retrieve his phone, stifling a yawn as he did so.

'So how did Misa do earlier? - Y'

Light smiled as Ryuzaki's reply came within seconds after he hit send.

'How do you think? A cute model flirting with an old pervert who captures and kills girls like her in his spare time. - R'

'So according to plan? - Y'

'Pretty much. - R'

Light's heart clinched painfully as he tried to forget the fact that in approximately twenty four hours their efforts would be made pointless.

'Do you think that the plan will work? That he'll actually agree to go with her on Saturday? - Y'

Light frowned, not quite sure why he was asking Ryuzaki this. Shouldn't he be reinforcing his contentment with the plan?

'Yes Light, I do. Our plan will work, I promise you that the killer will be behind bars by next week. - R'

He said "our" so easily. Light hadn't realized before they'd started dating how quickly everything turned from "I" to "we". "Our" plans for the weekend. "Our" favorite restaurant. Yes "we" would like that. That works for "us."

He sounded as if he were complaining - and if Ryuzaki were any other person on the planet Light probably would be - but with him Light honestly didn't mind. Compromise had never been one of his strong suits; his mom used to joke that he was always "one hundred percent or nothing" even as a child... But with Ryuzaki he never had to compromise. It was like they were one person separated into two people.

Light recalled the ancient Greek myth of how humans used to have two heads, four legs, and four arms; of how the gods feared their power and split them apart, and how the people then spent the rest of their lives searching for their other half. Light had spent his life up until then believing that he was a whole; that he would never find his other half because there wasn't one. He almost laughed out loud at how wrong he had been.

Or, he smiled softly to himself, perhaps not. In many ways they were one another's yin and yang, though a better way to look at it, was as if they were two people crafted for one another. Light wasn't sure if he believed in the concept of soulmates, but he did know that if something were to happen to Ryuzaki... the mere thought of it opened up a black hole in his chest.

He knew that he always felt more focused, more content, more _alive_ when he was around Ryuzaki. He was a whirlwind, a hurricane that Light had been swept up in. It was a complete and utter loss of control, and Light knew he would never again fully have hold of his own reins, though strangely enough, he found that he didn't really seem to mind.

Ultimately, this thought process was the last factor in convincing himself that what he was doing was the right thing. He had no doubt that Ryuzaki would do the same in his shoes, because he couldn't bear the thought of losing his other half.

'You're right Ryuzaki, I believe you. - Y'

Now that he knew what it was like to be with Ryuzaki, Light knew he never wanted to be without him.

He slowly blinked as he realized that the sound of his father's snoring was drifting through the walls. Time to go.

* * *

 

His alarm seemed even more jarring than usual the next morning, though that may have been due to the fact that he had stumbled back in the door a little under an hour before. _There goes any chance of sleep before the confrontation.._.

Though if this went according to plan he would have plenty of time to catch up on sleep, preferably with a certain author aspirant curled up at his side... The thought filled Light with enough warmth to slip out from under his comfy blanket and make his way to the bathroom, flipping on the shower and allowing the rivulets of water wash away any lingering apprehension. He could get as much sleep as he wanted... If all went well.

The water suddenly felt colder than it had been just a moment before, and his stomach clenched with nerves. If this all went downhill, then this was probably his last day on Earth. Even so, he couldn't back out. Not now. He couldn't deny the slight thrill that danced through him at the prospect.

As he made his way to school, he pulled out his phone, doing a few last minute checks to make sure everything was correct and in position. He would not fail due to a careless mistake.

Everything seemed to be in order, so he met up with Ryuzaki at the front gate as per usual, and together they trailed slowly up the sidewalk to the front entrance, taking their time in order to enjoy the cool morning air, which was staring to become warmer by the day, signaling the arrival of the end of the school year. Though Light wasn't about to waste time worrying about something like that now; there might be plenty of time for that later.

L P.O.V.

Lunch that fateful day was a subdued occasion. Even Misa was silent as she picked at the food before her. Only Kiyomi seemed oblivious to the tense mood, though in retrospect he realized that she had to have suspected something by then; most likely she was doing her best to keep their problems from interfering with her daily routine.

Not that L minded the distraction of course. On one hand there was Misa and he whom, as co-conspirators, shared an equal amount of guilt; and on the other there was Light. Light seemed to be maintaining a front of careful composure, though L was likely the only one to notice. L chose to simply chalked it up to nerves, or else his usual anxiety.

Perhaps he had missed a mark on a homework assignment. He was too preoccupied by his own thoughts at the time to psychoanalyze Light's facial expressions. Which was his first mistake of the day. Skipping the second mistake for now, his third and final mistake took place as he and Misa headed to their lockers where they had agreed to meet up with Light after their study hall escapade.

"He's late..." L murmured in astonishment.

"Nah he probably went to see a teacher or something," Misa waved it off flippantly, "you know Light... always the over achiever." He nodded and attempted to ignore the unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach. "See? He's right there." Misa pointed over his shoulder calmly, without her eyes ever leaving her phone screen.

L had never seen anyone as talented as Misa when it came to multitasking while texting; she could seriously set a world record for 'Most Amount of Conversations Held at One Time'. Even Matt and his video games had nothing on her.

L turned quickly, and sure enough Light came sprinting down the hallway, skidding to a halt beside them and panting as if he had just come from the opposite end of the building. "You didn't need to run, Light-kun." L patted his back gently.

"You know I don't like to be late." He sighed as his breathing returned to normal. L just rolled his eyes and led the way out of the building. The three of them headed to the gates together, chatting along the way about this and that, ultimately avoiding talking about the case, until they reached the road.

The three of them paused, reluctant to part ways. Light glanced to him, "Hey Ryuzaki, why don't we take a walk? My dad won't be home for a few hours and my mom wouldn't mind if I was a bit late in getting home."

He nodded, a walk with Light sounded wonderful, and if anything it beat going home and going over details with Weddy and Aiber.

Misa chuckled and winked at them, "Have fun you two... try not to get into too much trouble before tomorrow..."

They simply shook their heads and turned to leave; as they walked away down the sidewalk L glanced back briefly. Misa met his eyes with a look more solemn than any he'd seen on her face before, and nodded. L turned back and straightened his shoulders a bit, bracing himself for what was to come.

They took the longest routes possible around the city, and as they walked he attempted to ignore the incessant vibrations in his left pocket. No doubt it was Weddy calling to inform him that her flight got in on time, or Aiber calling to say that he successfully picked her up at the airport. He was perhaps too confident in his plan, but it wasn't as if he hadn't gone through with similar procedures countless times before. Besides, this was such a low profile case there was no way the World's Best Detective could possibly fail.

He was both relieved and apprehensive as the case came to a close. On one hand he and Light would have more time to spend together, and L could possibly score credibility points with Light's parents while he was at it, but on the other hand the closing of the case reminded him of the impending close to the school year, and with that came the ever dreaded question of "what next?"

Light's hand brushed against his, "Hey, you're spacing out again." L glanced up at him and muttered an unintelligible response, still deep in thought. He just chuckled, "Something's got you in a mood today... I hope it doesn't have anything to do with the case."

His tone was light and airy, but L still had to keep himself from flinching, "Can you blame me for being nervous? In a little more than twenty four hours we confront a murderer." he studied the pavement beneath their feet, studying each crack and crevice they passed, until Light couldn't take it any longer.

Stopping his pace, Light placed a hand on his shoulder and spun L around to face him. "We've been over this Ryuzaki, nothing will happen, I promise you." His eyes bored into L's with grim determination.

"I trust you Light." The words tasted like poison in his mouth.

His smile returned then, "Good, and I trust you." His hand moved down to intertwine with L's.

"Light?" He glanced around, but only one or two people seemed to be watching them, "You do realize that there are people around us, right?"

He shrugged, still smiling, "Who cares?" He felt the warmth from Light's fingers trail up his arm and settle somewhere in his chest. L's fingers tightened around his and they set off once again, without a destination in mind, simply wandering the city to their hearts' content.

L believed this was the first time the two of them felt like a normal couple; though of course this just left that much more room for reality to strike them in the chest like a ton of bricks.

Probably about an hour into their walk Light's phone began to ring from his pocket. "Probably my mom," he sighed in dismay as he pulled his hand from L's to reach for the obtrusive device, "this will only take a minute." They stopped walking as he answered the call.

"Hello?" he asked the receiver while L tried not to pout that their walk had been cut short. There was a long silence, and he looked up just as the phone slipped from Light's fingers, flinching as he heard the screen shatter against the pavement.


	17. Climax?

Light P.O.V.

"Hello?" he asked the receiver, fully expecting to hear his mother's disappointed tone.

"Light Yagami. I believe you know who I am."

Light felt his blood turned to ice in his veins. It couldn't be... "I got your note... I also received a gift in the form of our lovely friend here... Isn't that right, Misa-chan?" he heard Misa's muffled scream in the background of the call, "So if you would like to rescue her from the same fate as her peers... I suggest you, and Ryuzaki of course, report to the warehouse ASAP. Got that? AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Any later and... my blade... might just... slip." he hissed out the last word, giving Light the the distinct and unwelcome impression of a cobra; poised with deadly precision, "Oh and if you tip off the police, I'll know and she'll die. See you soon... Prince." The line went dead. The phone slipped from his shaking fingers.

Distantly, he heard the screen shatter, as though it were part dream, one that was trickling through his fingers like water, the details becoming hazier and hazier until he couldn't move or breathe or think, except for the word resounding through his skull, over and over and over and over.

Prince.

Prince. Prince. Prince. Prince. Prince. Prince. Prince. Prince. Prince. PRINCE. PRINCE. PRINCE.

His reverie was broken by a sharp pain across his cheekbone. He slowly blinked down at Ryuzaki, who was standing before him with his hand raised, the other gripping Light's arm tightly enough to cut off the circulation. "Light!" He shouted, "Who was that, what happened?!"

Light's eyes widened as the man's words hit him again with unwavering clarity. He gripped the sides of his head, as the world spun dizzyingly about him, fingers wrenching painfully at his hair, "Misa..." Light whispered, startling Ryuzaki, "He has Misa..."

"Where!" he grabbed Light's shoulders and shook him gently, "Light, you need to calm down and tell me where Misa is and how long she has left... LIGHT!" His expression and movements were steady and confident, but the sheer terror and guilt filling his eyes broke Light's heart.

Light felt his head clear, and his fingers stopped trying to tear his hair from his head follicle by follicle. His hands slid down to Ryuzaki's wrists, his fingers still clamped to Light's shoulders with a grip like iron, "Yellow Box warehouse. We need to get there, like, now."

If they didn't... Light didn't need to finish that thought.

Ryuzaki exhaled sharply, "I'll assume you know where that is?"

Light nodded, not bothering to make excuses, "Other side of town."

Ryuzaki slapped a hand over his eyes, obviously attempting to formulate the quickest route. Suddenly he whipped his hand away from his face, "Nothing can be done..." Light heard him mutter under his breath before dashing to the closest parked vehicle; a beat up old car whose speedometer had probably never gone above seventy.

Ryuzaki had the door open in a flash, the owner having been foolish enough to leave the window down. He leaned underneath the steering wheel, his head blocking his hands from Light's view.

"Ryuzaki," Light said haltingly, " You're not..." his voice died out as the car coughed and sputtered to life.

"Get in!" he shouted, giving Light just enough time to jump into the passenger seat and slam his door closed before tearing away from the curb and around the corner. He had been wrong about the speedometer as Ryuzaki pushed the car to well over ninety mph, dangerously rocketing through stop signs and intersections.

"Where on earth did you learn how to - " He cut off, bracing himself against his seat as they narrowly missed yet another street sign, "- drive like this!?"

"Unimportant!" he yelled back, and Light simply assumed this was Watari's fault, "Why are we going to the Yellow Box warehouse, Light?"

Light knew what he was asking. "Why does he have Misa?" Light countered.

Ryuzaki glanced over briefly before whipping they around to avoid another unlucky pedestrian, "We both should have seen this coming."

"I think we did." Light replied, too quiet for him to hear, "We just didn't want to."

'Love is blind'

Light used to think that saying was in reference to ignoring one another's undesirable characteristics. He now realized that it applied to actions as well. He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, "So Juuzo has Misa-"

"No. Not Juuzo." Ryuzaki cut him off, "Obata."

"Obata?" He wasn't making any sense, they had crossed Obata off their list weeks ago, besides, the handwriting was a match for Juuzo's...

"Yes Light, Obata is the killer. When you mentioned Juuzo's phobia of blood that night in the car I found it highly suspicious. Remember the next morning, my hand? I wasn't kissing up to the new principal, I went straight to Juuzo's classroom and sliced my palm with a dissecting knife." Light put a hand over his mouth, he wasn't sure if it was the new information, or Ryuzaki's driving that was making him ill, "He practically sprayed me with holy water, he was that terrified."

Light frowned, "That's not enough evidence to draw a conclusion-"

"So later when we searched his classroom, I took something from his desk drawer, just before he burst into the room. It was a bag of medicine. I had Watari look into them and they turned out to be Clozaril pills, most commonly used to treat Schizophrenia. Assuming he has either Paranoid or Disorganized Schizophrenia his reality is shaky at best; add a persuasive criminal into the equation and he could have easily been manipulated into doing things such as writing that note or behaving suspiciously in order to draw attention onto himself and therefore away from the true killers."

Light smacked his forehead, "He's a scapegoat."

"Yes." Ryuzaki agreed, "It was a stroke of luck that Obata showed up to the classroom just after him; when Juuzo accused Obata of steeling something of his I realized that Obata must have been taking Juuzo's pills. Without his medication Juuzo would lose all sense of reality and become malleable enough that Obata could use him to his advantage. That is why Juuzo went out of his way to travel to Obata's apartment on that day you were caught by Principal Ackerman, Obata was on my tailing list, so you couldn't have known what he was after, but when you told me your location I began to consider the possibility of Obata and Juuzo working together."

"I feel so stupid..." Light fought to remain calm, "That's sick... playing on someone's mental illness..."

"Light, this is a man who viciously murders teenage girls for fun. And you're not stupid, this is your first case and I withheld vital information from you." Ryuzaki sighed then, "Besides, this is my fault."

"What?" Light glanced at him, "how is this your fault?"

"I was arrogant and baited him. Remember the piece of paper I "dropped" earlier? That was the note we had been passing back and forth. I was letting him know I suspected him. I thought it would make him panic, but instead he kidnapped Misa... He probably followed us from the school and picked her up as she was walking home... I should have made her come with us, I should have protected her better..." his shoulders slumped even more than usual, and if he wasn't driving Light would have wrapped his arms around him.

"Ryuzaki... even if you were with him he would have just taken you too, and then what? It would be twice as difficult if it were just me trying to save both of you." it hurt watching him beat himself up, but part of Light couldn't help but think that he was partially responsible. Light tried his best to snuff out that thought, but it persisted like gum stuck to the bottom of his brain.

"I can't let her die..." he bit his lip so hard that Light was afraid it would bleed, "Light. Take my phone, I need you to make a call."

Misa P.O.V.

Misa couldn't help but shiver as she heard the cold _Shink... Shink..._ as the man sharpened his knife. All she could see was black nothingness as the two men prepared her demise.

"Please!" She begged in a moment of desperation, "Just kill me! Leave Ryuzaki and Light alone!"

She heard the one man pause in his knife sharpening, the other one continued to pace, "Oh please, as if that would ever happen." he laughed a cold harsh cackle, one that caused her skin to crawl and she felt the sudden need to be sick.

_Please, Ryuzaki... Light..._

L P.O.V.

He knew Aiber and Weddy were at least half an hour away, maybe longer. L drove insanely through the streets, weaving his way around pedestrians and traffic signs alike, all while dictating Light's phone call. T-minus three minutes and counting. _Hang in there Misa._

He threw all caution to the wind and floored the gas pedal, whipping around corners and flying through stop signs. _Come on_. He cursed the vehicle for being too slow. He cursed himself for being too blind. He thought he had this case in the bag. What's one small serial killer in the face of the great, the mysterious, the unbeatable L? He couldn't have been more wrong.

He had underestimated Obata. He had overestimated both himself and Misa. He had discounted Light. They arrived at the warehouse and he all but threw himself from the car, racing to the doorway, Light right on his heels.

"Wait!" Light hissed, grabbing his arm as he went to wrench the door open, "We need a plan."

"A plan..." L slowed his mind and began to think things through. They were up against an experienced killer with a hostage. No weapons. And backup was a good half hour away. L was ready to tear his own hair out.

"I might have a way to distract him until your... friends get here." Light seemed to pause on the word "friends" and L knew he had a lot of explaining to do when this was all over... he hoped.

Light explained his plan to him as quickly as he could, then turned to open the door. L knew that time was precious, but he couldn't help leaning up to kiss Light's cheek before they entered the gloomy building. He sighed softly and closed his eyes for the briefest second. When he reopened them, it was time.

Obata P.O.V.

He knew it wouldn't be long for his little play mates to arrive. He could barely contain his excitement... He caressed the smooth blade in his hand, sharp enough to slice through skin and bone alike. He swished it through the air, quickly becoming impatient.

"Quiet!" He reprimanded Juuzo, who had been pacing along the back wall since they had arrived at the warehouse a few hours before. It was so nice of Yagami to chose such an undisturbed location for his demise.

Obata was sure the screams of the two junior detectives would reverberate nicely around the room in a beautiful symphony of agony! Never had he killed two lovers in front of one other... he shivered in anticipation, imagining the sweet anguish that would fill their eyes as they watched him torture the other. Writing crime novels had been nothing compared to this!

The written word could barely compare to the raw emotion he could witness firsthand in the faces of his victims. He began to laugh out loud, a cold laugh even to him. He heard the girl begin to sob; the awful heartbroken sound filled him with satisfied contentment. _Soon..._ He thought longingly.

His eyes snapped open as the door against the far wall creaked slowly open; and there they stood. Shoulder to shoulder, facing him with heads held high. He stood so quickly that his chair tipped back and fell to the floor with a resounding **thud**... he ignored it.

Slowly, Obata spread his arms wide, welcoming them to their deaths with open arms, "Right on time!"

"Let her go, Obata." Light said calmly, "It's us you want, she has nothing to do with any of this."

He smirked, "Oh, doesn't she?" He flicked his knife toward her neck, enjoying the hardly concealed expressions of terror on the faces of his new toys, "Don't worry, I won't kill her yet. That would ruin the game now wouldn't it?"

Neither of them responded except to shift, ever so slightly, closer together. Obata's pulse quickened in anticipation. "Come now boys, don't be strangers! There's plenty of room in here for each of us..." He waved them inside, pleased when they strode forward confidently, allowing the door to swing shut behind them. "Such bravery!"

He couldn't help but exclaim, watching as they moved slowly closer. "Were you surprised?" He asked them, " _You_ still thought Juuzo was the culprit," he pointed to Light, "but _you_ had the audacity, the arrogance, to call me out directly!"

He moved his finger to point accusingly to Ryuzaki. He began to laugh again, a throaty uncontrolled cackle; one that he hoped terrified them to the very depths of their soul, "You thought you could outsmart me didn't you? How precious!" he broke down into another fit of disrupted laughter, "I will admit you two got closer to catching me than the entire police force... that truly is admirable. If only you had been wiser, more coordinated, this may have ended differently..." he grinned.

He knew exactly what to say to plant the seeds of doubt, to crush them completely. These two bright investigators. These two ardent companions. Without their intellect and their compatibility, without their deductive abilities and passion, what were they really? Pawns. Pawns in a game bigger than the two of them combined.

For what is the Yin without the Yang? The tiger without the dragon? What is justice without it's judge? As he gazed upon the determined faces of these young detectives Obata decided he couldn't possibly delay any longer. "So..." he purred, "who shall be the first to die?"

Light P.O.V.

Light fingered the switch hidden in his sleeve, desperately searching for something to delay, delay, delay.

"Hmm, I don't know... What do you think Light-kun?" Ryuzaki had his hand to his mouth, chewing on his thumbnail as though deep in thought.

Light caught on quickly, "Uhmmm..." he drew out the sound, "I think maybe I should go first but I don't know... Did you want to?"

"Maybe, you know, I was thinking about it."

"You might want to, it will probably be quicker that way. Plus you won't have to wait." Light offered helpfully.

"True..." his eyes widened like he had had an idea, "Wait! But what about you? I don't want to make Light-kun wait..."

Light put a hand on his shoulder, "It's okay, I'm sure it won't be too much of a wait. Right Obata-san?"

Obata seemed to be both impatient and confused, "If you can't choose, then I'll kill you both slowly at the same time."

Ryuzaki glanced to Light, who shrugged, "But how would you kill us both at the same time? You have to kill one of us first, and I think it should be Ryuzaki. He doesn't deserve to die slowly."

"But neither does Light!" Ryuzaki cut in quickly, "I think you should kill him first."

"No, but -"

"ENOUGH!" Obata's grip on his knife was so tight that his whole arm was shaking, "I'm not an idiot! This stupid trick only works in the movies."

Ryuzaki shrugged, "Worth a try."

"Not REALLY!" Obata growled, "I expected better from the two of you."

"You really shouldn't have." Light chuckled, "I mean you did out smart us obviously."

"Yes, but..." he trailed off, and Light could only hope that they had discouraged him, even if only slightly. So long as he thought he was the only one with a trick up his sleeve, so long as he still underestimated them, they still had a chance. "I don't care." he shook his head like a dog dispelling water, "I'm going to kill you no matter what!" he raised his knife to point the tip at them.

Light figured they still had approximately fifteen minutes before Ryuzaki's backup would arrive. This gave him twelve minutes until he could hit the switch in his sleeve and end this whole mess. Light touched Ryuzaki's hand, the signal for Plan B. Light reached back into his bag and pulled the inkwell from its place in the circuit board he had constructed the night before. As quick as a flash Ryuzaki twisted the bag from his shoulders and flung it toward Obata, who reflexively reached out to catch it.

The bag burst into flames midair as the closed circuit transferred electricity into the incendiary fluid concealed in flammable casing. Obata screamed as the bag landed in his open hands, scorching his flesh. He whipped it away from himself, but he and Ryuzaki were already halfway to the corners of the room, ducking behind the shipping crates and boxes, seeking out the other circuits Light had hidden among them the night before.

Light prayed to every deity imaginable that Obata had not had the foresight to thoroughly check the building before they arrived. Relief flooded him as he came across the first circuit. Light wrenched out the inkwell, barely slowing down before he was off to the next one. He hoped Obata would chase him and not Ryuzaki.

Sure enough, as soon as he skirted around the next shipping container Light felt Obata's knife swipe by his face, narrowly avoiding his skin. Light ducked his next swing and punched him square in the jaw, taking the opportunity to sprint to the next circuit.

"You..." he growled as Light pulled the third inkwell. He felt the heat against his fingers, this time narrowly avoiding singeing off his own eyebrows. Light wound his way through the crates, hoping to put a wider distance between himself and the enraged serial killer.

As he passed a gap in the boxes he saw Ryuzaki in the center of the room, working at the knots holding Misa to her chair while Juuzo paced nervous circles around the both of them. Light checked his watch, _still too soon.._. he just needed about three minutes.

"YAGAMI!" Obata shouted from behind him. Light whipped around just in time to duck another knife attack, though this time Obata's knee came up to hit him in the stomach, effectively knocking his breath away. Light sunk to his knees, gasping as Obata raised the knife above his head.

Light struggled to breathe as his diaphragm recovered, unaided by the air which was rapidly filling with smoke as his fires morphed into a conflagration, eating up the empty warehouse like dry kindling. He closed his eyes as Obata brought the knife down, waiting for death.

Before it could come he heard a grunt from above and opened his eyes to see Ryuzaki with his hands planted firmly on the floor and his right foot high up in the air, having just kicked Obata in the jaw. Light recognized this move as one he had shown Light before. _Capoeira,_ his brain supplied.

Light rose to his feet, grabbing Ryuzaki's hand as he straightened up and pulling him out into the center of the room, heading to where Misa was trying to calm Juuzo, who seemed to be having some sort of episode. He nearly felt guilty for suspecting the poor guy.

Light checked his watch and pushed the switch. The four of them; Ryuzaki, Misa, Juuzo and Light stood together in the center of the room as Obata approached cautiously from the side, "Give it up Obata!" Light shouted, "You can't win here! This warehouse will be up in flames in minutes, all of us along with it!"

"Oh?" he laughed again, that terrible, horrible, cackle, "So in other words if you die you'll pull me with you?"

Light stood his ground, prepared to go out fighting. Ryuzaki reached out and took his hand, Misa did the same. He could only hope that Ryuzaki's backup would arrive soon.

Sure enough, not a minute later a tall broad man burst into the room, closely followed by a blonde woman in sunglasses, each of them pointing their guns toward Obata. The relief that flooded Light was so overwhelming that he nearly sank to his knees then and there. Obata surrendered, not that he had much choice, and they all emptied out of the building, just in time to watch as it went up in flames. Light used the ropes previously holding Misa to bind Obata.

Misa meanwhile attempted in vain to console Juuzo, who was sitting on the ground with his knees to his chest, unresponsive to anything she was saying to him. Light glanced over at Ryuzaki, who was conversing with the two strangers. It was obvious that he was something of a boss to them. Light wondered just how much else he didn't know about him. But now was not the time for that.

Ryuzaki nodded to the two of them and they made their way over to a pair of motorcycles parked next to the car Ryuzaki had hotwired. "Hey," Light said as Ryuzaki walked back to him, "why are they leaving?"

He sighed, "It would be best if the police didn't know they were here."

"Wait," Light frowned, "so you want us to just pretend they weren't here? Ryuzaki, who are they?"

He suddenly looked even more exhausted, if that was even possible, "Light, that is a story for another day..."

Light simply sighed, too tired to argue with him, "Alright, but what about him?" He motioned to Obata, "won't he just tell the police they were here?"

"Just let me worry about that." Ryuzaki walked over and wrapped his arms around him, and Light hugged him back, forgetting that he was irritated with him. His knees suddenly felt weak and they sank to the ground together, breaking apart to hold hands as they sat under the moon and waited for the police to arrive.

"Uhh, Light?" Misa came over to them, "How do you know the police are on their way?"

He turned his sleeve inside out, showing her the button stitched in, "I wired cameras throughout the building and hooked them up to this, which allowed me to send all of the camera's data to my dad's computer."

"Ohh," she nodded as though she understood, "how long do you think until - " She was cut off by the rapidly approaching sirens, and five squad cars came to a screeching halt about fifty feet in front of them, followed by two ambulances and a fire engine. Light's father leapt out of the first car and raced toward them, enveloping Light in a crushing bear hug, knocking the breath from his lungs for the second time that day, not that he minded that time.

"How could you be so irresponsible!?" he shouted at him, pulling back, "You could have been killed! And you." he turned to Ryuzaki, "First you corrupt my son and now you drag him into life threatening situations!?"

"Dad!" Light shouted desperately, putting himself between Ryuzaki and his father, "It's alright, if anything I dragged him into this whole mess..."

His father stared at him in disbelief, "As soon as the paramedics check you over we're leaving."

"What?! Dad!" Light protested, "We caught the killer!" He gestured to Obata, who was currently being led to the nearest squad car, his blistering hands cuffed behind his back.

"Nearly at the expense of your own lives!" He shouted, "After your checkup and once you give your statement, I am personally driving both you and Misa home. Where you will stay. Indefinitely."

"But what about..." Light trailed off as he turned to see that Ryuzaki had disappeared. Light felt sick as he turned back to the furious face of his father, and followed him without further protest to the waiting ambulance.

L P.O.V.

L walked until he saw Watari's car approaching through the darkness. Wordlessly he climbed into the backseat and accepted Watari's disapproving gaze. "I don't think I have to explain my disappointment." He turned in his seat, "When I encouraged you to pursue your relationship with Light Yagami, I did not think it would impede your judgment so harshly."

L looked down, unable to meet his eyes anymore. Wammy reached back and placed a hand on his shoulder, "L, it's perfectly fine to make a mistake here and there, so long as you learn from it."

L nodded, extremely grateful to have Watari in his life. "Let's go home." L said quietly. Wordlessly, he turned back to the front and began to drive. L was glad he was unable to see the tears rolling down his cheeks as he fought to hold himself together.


	18. Chapter 18

L P.O.V

Something inside of him felt broken. In the week following what he had begun to call the Confrontation, L refused to return to school, opting instead to curl up in a ball under the covers or on the couch. It was to the point that Watari was threatening to fly them both back to England if L didn't talk to him, to the boys, to someone.

The person he wanted to talk to most was Light. The only problem was that the person he wanted to talk to least was also Light. He blamed himself for what had happened. If anyone had actually died L didn't know what he would have done.

He was sure that Light blamed him as well. That seemed to be the only explanation as to why he hadn't so much as texted. He was too afraid to call him. Too afraid to know.

L was beginning to think that going back to England would be best after all. The only thing stopping him was Light. Every second he spent thinking Light hated him, thinking he blamed him was a second of agony. According to Watari, this was because he had lost the yin to his yang. Or some philosophical nonsense like that.

Honestly though? That was exactly what was wrong with him. He had nearly lost Light, and almost couldn't handle it. The fact that it was his own fault made everything worse. He slowly began to convince himself that staying away would be best for both of them.

Light P.O.V.

He was sick. Unbelievably sick. The morning after the incident at the warehouse Light came down with a 103 degree Fahrenheit fever. After three days of tossing and turning, of feverish nightmares of killers and death it finally broke. When he was well enough to form coherent sentences, let alone think clearly, Light was still in no condition to go back to school.

His father blamed the ash and smoke. His mother blamed the stress. He blamed himself. Why had he done any of that? Why had he thought that he could solve the case on his own? Ryuzaki had done the same, but at least he hadn't gone into it alone. He had Misa and those... two other people, whom Light was still really confused about.

He, on the other hand had gone into the thick of it by himself; not so much a lone wolf as a single fool. Everything could have happened differently if he had just _talked_ to Ryuzaki beforehand. If he had told him his plan, if he hadn't tried to be the hero. If he had just put more trust in him, everything could have happened differently...

Misa and Kiyomi stopped by after he had been sick for five days, which also happened to be when he was finally released from his parent's quarantine. They'd informed him that Ryuzaki hadn't been in to school. This didn't surprise him in the slightest. Light figured he would avoid everyone for a little while. he imagined Ryuzaki was angry with him, that he blamed Light almost as much as Light blamed himself. Why else wouldn't he have called or texted?

Misa assured him many times that she didn't blame him or Ryuzaki, and that she was so incredibly thankful that they came to rescue her. Even Kiyomi hugged him and told him that what they had done was brave. She then grudgingly informed him that he and Ryuzaki made a cute couple. He told her not to get his hopes up. If Ryuzaki ever spoke to him again he would be lucky.

Light couldn't stand the silence between them, every absent second that he wasn't calling Ryuzaki was painful. He tried to make himself busy, cramming as much schoolwork into his brain as he could. Not leaving any room for self pity or doubt. If he just kept studying, everything would be okay. He told his parents he couldn't get behind just because he was sick; he told himself that it helped.

L P.O.V.

L made his way into the kitchen in search of ice cream. He had heard somewhere on the internet that broken emotions could be fixed with ice cream.

As he opened the freezer Watari cleared his throat from the living room. L sighed and plodded over to the couch, tucking his knees to his chest as usual, "What is it Watari?"

"I think you should talk to someone." he repeated his new favorite mantra without even looking up from his newspaper, this time in Russian.

"I think I should eat the ice cream in the freezer." L replied, starting to stand back up again. He folded his news paper and looked him in the eye. L sat down again.

Watari attempted to hand him his phone, "Call Light."

L glanced at the phone and felt the sudden need to vomit, "No."

"Call Light." he repeated.

"No." He repeated. Watari didn't move. L sighed, "I thought you said that he clouded my judgment."

"I said that I was disappointed that you _let_ him cloud your judgment." Wammy corrected him, "The key to a happy relationship is to be able to make judgments together, which you did not. Instead you let your image of him and his needs cloud your thoughts. If you had listened to him and let him listen to you, then this could have been avoided."

"So it _is_ my fault." L bit his thumbnail.

"It is both of your faults equally." he replied, "Call him."

"I'll call him later. I promise." L wasn't sure whether or not he was lying, for that moment he just wanted to be alone with his thoughts. And a pint of ice cream.

Light P.O.V.

After a week out of school Light's mother came into his room, interrupting his studying. "I think you should call Ryuzaki." she told him.

"Did dad tell you to say that?" Light replied scathingly.

"Don't joke." She chided, "your father hates to see you like this just as much as I do. He only blames Ryuzaki because he can't stand to blame anyone else."

"Whatever." Light rolled his eyes, not ready to have that conversation.

"Please call him. I'm sure he wants to hear from you just as much as you want to hear from him."

Light scoffed, "Yeah, that's why he hasn't called."

"Maybe he's waiting for you to call. Maybe he's sitting in his room pretending to cram for finals to cover up the fact that he blames himself for everything that happened." Light stared at her.

She shrugged, "Moms know everything." Light made a noncommittal gesture and tried to go back to studying. "Light. Call him." she persisted.

"Mom, it's my fault. Everything. What exactly am I supposed to say to him?" He gritted his teeth, giving up the pretense.

"It's not your fault. At least not completely. From what I heard, you both had a hand in going behind the other's back." Light flinched, "I can't imagine that he blames you."

Light sighed, "Anything else?" he asked, hoping she would take the hint and leave him again to the mercy of his pity party.

She rubbed her eyes tiredly, "Sayu misses you. Not that she would ever say that out loud." That was a low blow, even for her. "Call him." she said one last time before she shut the door, leaving him to his "studying."

L P.O.V.

"L!" all three boys exclaimed at once.

L was perched in front of a computer monitor looking into the three worried faces of Wammy's finest. Watari had bullied him into a face to face chat with them. All three had been apparently texting and calling him nonstop since L had stopped taking their calls.

"What's wrong!?"

"Wammy says you're upset."

"You didn't even respond to that funny cat picture I sent you!"

Their varying levels of concern and reasons for concern almost made him crack a smile. Almost. "I'm just a little upset, the case I was working on went wrong last minute, and I had to think on my feet. A few people nearly died."

"What? How did it go wrong?" Mello demanded, probably confused as to how the great L had managed to mess up a case this small.

"I..." He tried to find the right words, "I misjudged someone."

"Was it your friend that you misjudged?" Near was always very intuitive.

"No way! L wouldn't stop to make friends on a case!" Mello scoffed.

"Yeah! He's too cool for that... like Batman, he works alone." Of course Matt would compare him to Batman.

"No, Near is right." L informed them, enjoying the astonished looks Matt and Mello gave him.

"But -"

"You work alone..."

"Yes..." L sighed, "I did work alone... And then there was Light Yagami."

"Light Yagami?"

"So that's his name! I'm gonna beat him up."

"What kind of name is "Light" anyway?"

"Why would you want to beat him up Mello?" L asked, perplexed.

"Because anyone who can make you look and act like that isn't worth shit." he replied adamantly, L could hear Roger in the background reprimanding him for his language.

L simply chuckled, "Sometimes, Mello, the people you truly care about are the ones who hurt you the most."

He made a face, "Ugh you sound like Wammy."

"You care about him that deeply?" Near wanted to know.

L nodded, "I do. Light is special."

"More special than us?" Matt looked like was about to either get mad or cry, he wasn't sure which would have been worse.

"Of course not!" He replied quickly, "I care about Light as much as I care about you three."

"Are you dating?" Near asked, spot on again.

"Yes." L replied.

"What, really! Yeah! Five Quid Mello! Fork it over!" It would seem that Matt and Mello had bet on his sexuality. Not surprising.

"Well, sort of." He corrected, "I don't know anymore." he finished tiredly.

"Did he hurt you? If he hurt you I'll beat him up!" Mello threatened, shaking a fist in the lens of the camera.

"Ahh the wrath of Mello the dreaded ten year old." L joked, rolling his eyes.

"He better sleep with one eye open!"

"That won't be necessary." L replied, his short lived humor dying out quickly, "It's my fault we haven't spoken in a while."

"Your fault?" Mello asked disbelievingly.

L nodded, "I didn't trust him enough, and I became overconfident. We both nearly died."

"What?!"

"Died?!"

"You?!"

"Yes." L nodded sadly.

"Have you spoken to him since?" Near asked.

"No I haven't." He replied.

"Maybe he doesn't blame you. You never know."

"Did Watari tell you to say that?" L asked him, his eyes narrowing.

He shook his head, "No, I just think you need to communicate, like you do with us. You're not the easiest person to read, and unless you tell him how you feel he might not know." Surprisingly good advice from a five year old.

"I suppose you're right." L rubbed his eyes tiredly, I'll go visit him in the tomorrow."

"You better be happy next time we call!"

"Batman would call Light!"

"Make sure to explain, not just tell him what you're feeling."

L smiled, "Tell B and A I say hello."

Watari was right, as usual. Those three had done the impossible. He turned around at the computer desk and met his mentor's eyes, "I'm going to tell him."

He didn't need to specify what.

Light P.O.V.

Light was still studying when Sayu barged into his room unannounced. "What do you want?" He asked, irritated that she hadn't even knocked.

"I want my brother back that's what I want." she stood in front of him with her arms folded, looking more stern than their father could ever hope to be, "I don't know who the hell this mopey sad sack is or where he came from, but he needs to _go_."

"Look Sayu..." Light sighed rubbing his exhausted eyes.

"No. Don't you "look Sayu" me. I don't care what the hell you did. Ryuzaki doesn't blame you, that's not the type of person he is. How do I know this? Because he's dating you." her rant was actually making him want to laugh. "And another thing. Mom says you haven't even talked to him since Dad picked you up from the crime scene. What's up with that? How are either of you supposed to know what the other is thinking if you haven't even spoken?" she was making a surprising amount of sense, and despite himself, Light actually started to feel a bit better.

"You really think he doesn't blame me?" He asked, allowing hope to blossom for the first time in a week.

"I would stake my life on it." She stated confidently, "Now cheer up."

"He hasn't called though..." the hope deflated again.

"So? It's not like you've called him." she argued, "For all you know he blames himself and he's too busy beating himself up that he hasn't considered the possibility that you're doing the same thing. Sound familiar?"

"You're making my head spin." Light told her.

"Suck it up brainiac, you're supposed to be the smart one, so act like it." She then hugged him unexpectedly, "If you see my brother, please tell him we all miss him and that no one cares whether or not it was his fault, okay?"

Light nodded, "I didn't expect you to be the one to get through to me like this."

"What are you talking about? I was never here, and you can't prove anything." and with that she left, stopping once in his doorway to yell "Just fucking call him!" leaving Light surprised at her helpful advice, and at the same time ashamed for how he had been dealing with everything.

He glanced at the clock next to his bed; nine thirty wasn't too late. Ryuzaki was an insomniac anyway. He practically skipped down the stairs, running to his mom's office, "Hey," he greeted her, "I'm going over to Ryuzaki's apartment, please don't tell Dad."

She looked astonished to see him out of his room, and to be honest he was kind of startled as well, "A-Alright, have fun... Do you need a ride?"

Light considered, "No," he decided, "the walk should be good for me. It'll help clear my head. Thanks anyway though."

She nodded, a smile growing on her face, "Good luck, Light." He made his way to the front door and out into the night, eager to see Ryuzaki.

L P.O.V.

L woke up the next morning feeling refreshed... and then remembered his conference call with the boys the previous night, as well as his resolve to go visit Light.

He was both apprehensive and relieved. Apprehensive in that there was still a chance that Light didn't want to see him, and relieved in that he would finally see him again. Those seven days had probably been the longest week of his life; including the time Mello had to get his tonsils out, and L was the only one he would accept medicine from.

Watari offered him a ride to Light's house, but he refused, wanting to enjoy the warm air and perhaps clear his head a bit more. The walk didn't take as long as he expected, and before he knew it L was standing apprehensively in front of Light's house. A small part of him wanted to simply walk back the way he came. He knew if Light rejected him, that part of him would never fully heal. A larger part of him wanted desperately to knock down the front door and find Light, whatever it took.

Before he had the chance to do either, the door swung open and Soichiro Yagami stood before him looking beyond livid, "Where the hell is my son!?"

L was taken aback, "What do you mean?"

Soichiro looked as if he were about to explode, but then Lights mother wormed her way through the door and placed her hands on his shoulders, "Ryuzaki! Light left to visit you at round nine thirty last night, you haven't heard from him, have you?"

A cold sense of dread settled into his stomach, "No, I haven't. He never came to my apartment..." He trailed off as Light's mother looked as though she wanted to cry.

Soichiro's phone rang suddenly, startling all three of them. Silently he raised it to his ear, "Yes?" His face turned from annoyed to confused to straight up furious in the time span of three seconds, "It's for you." he said, sounding eerily calm; like the eye of a storm.

He was holding the phone out to L.


	19. Chapter 19

L P.O.V.

L accepted the phone from Soichiro's outstretched hand, wondering who on earth would be calling him through Light's father's phone, "Hello, Frog." the mechanical voice greeted him.

He glanced to Light's parents, both of whom were eyeing him warily, "Who is this?" he demanded. 

Were they addressing Ryuzaki, or L? The difference could easily tip the chances of Light's survival out of their favor, and L had a sinking feeling that they weren't looking for Ryuzaki.

The voice chuckled, "An old aquaintance."

"Okay," L replied slowly, quickly changing tactics, "then what do you want?" 

"What do I want?" The voice paused for dramatic effect, "What I want, is to make you suffer."

L sighed, passing a hand over his eyes, "I'm assuming you aren't addressing Ryuzaki the High School student?"

The voice let out another amused chuckle, "Of course not. Don't be ridiculous... L."

L pushed down the waves of anger threatening to wash away his careful composure, "I don't know who you are, or what you think you know. But surely if you know who I am, then you have heard stories of what happens to people who think they can cross me. Judging by the way you have called me, and the timing you chose, you're the one responsible for Light's disappearance. If that is the case, just know that I'm coming. And if you have any semblance of intellect, you should run. Run fast, and run far."

L realized vaguely that his hand was shaking. Reluctantly he sucked in a slow, deep breath and attempted to remove all emotion from his voice and mind.

"I have planted two bombs somewhere in the middle of the Kanto region. If you choose Light, thousands of people die; if you choose the people, then Light will be the one who goes up in flames. You have two hours. Best of luck, L. I'll be waiting." the line went dead.

L grit his teeth and kept himself from smashing the phone on the ground in frustration; something he was sure would not help put him in Soichiro's good graces.

"Ryuzaki..." Sachiko had her hand over her mouth, her eyes shining as she gazed at him imploringly. Soichiro appeared as if he were struggling to keep up a steady front.

L searched his eyes and recognized the fear and grief at being on the brink of losing his son for the second time in a week. He recognized his love for Light, and for his family. He recognized the eyes, not of a demanding police chief, but of a scared parent.

L ran a hand through his hair, resigning himself to what he was about to do, "If you'll allow me into your house, I believe I have a lot of explaining to do." 

Wordlessly, the two adults turned and led the way into the house, hopefully mentally preparing themselves for the information he was about to divulge.

Light P.O.V.

Light awoke in the middle of a coughing fit, feeling as though his lungs were striving to scale his throat and bungee out through his mouth. He made a weak attempt to move his arms to his face, though they seemed to be bound tightly behind him by a rope winding through the hard wooden chair, along with his ankles.

"My apologies, Light-kun." a mechanical voice emanated through the darkness before him, shattering the silence, and leaving his ears ringing. The synthetic voice reminded of the voice L usually used like a slap in the face, though this one was deeper and much more sinister, "Drugs can do that to your lungs sometimes. Do you have a headache as well? That can also be a common side effect."

"I do have a headache, thanks for mentioning it." Light snapped back.

"Huh," the voice huffed, "Intelligent, and feisty. No wonder he fell so hard for you. I never expected it to work out so well."

His anger was replaced with a nearly crippling fear. He was talking about Ryuzaki. Light did his best not to let his anxiety register on his face, and, summoning his best Sayu impression, Light sneered, "You're pretty chatty for a kidnapper."

This earned him a laugh from his captor, "Can you blame me for being giddy? I've been planning this day for a long time."

Light rolled his eyes, "Cliché much? Who are you, Moriarty?"

He seemed to find that hilarious, "Ah well," he said once his laughter had finally subsided, "too bad you won't live long enough to find out."

Light growled through the darkness, not knowing where exactly to look. Judging by the way sound moved around the room, he estimated himself to be in a square room about the size of an average classroom. Most likely no furniture aside from the chair he was sitting in. The room was pitch black, no sign of light anywhere at all, which meant that it was likely the windows were covered, and that the door was sealed around the edges. Light guessed that the room was sound proof as well.

He could be anywhere in Japan. Light had no possibility of estimating how long he had been unconscious, and with the lack of visible light or sound, had no way of judging what time of day, or night, it could have been.

Light had read studies of people going insane during experiments in sensory deprivation, of people opting out and begging to be released after minutes without light or sound. He was determined not to show any signs of discomfort. For all he knew his kidnapper could be watching through a night vision lens, just waiting for him to break down.

He wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

Light simply hoped Ryuzaki and his father would get there before he was forced into any sort of desperate measures.

L P.O.V.

"Right, got it." L thanked Watari and hung up the phone, his stomach squirming with more anxiety than he had ever experienced on any previous case. Silently L did his best to shove his stress down and out of the way. Now was not the time to give in to emotion. L needed to be as calm, cool, and collected as he would be if this were any other case. He checked his watch.

T-minus one hour and thirty one minutes.

He turned to the couch where Sachiko and Soichiro were nervously perched, having listened in on his conversation with Watari. L reluctantly shuffled over and stood before them, trying to appear as official as possible, attempting in vain to think of how to correctly word what he was about to say. It would have to be quick and to the point. Every second was valuable.

He glanced to Soichiro, "I believe you are familiar with the detective known as L?"

His eyes narrowed in suspicion, "I've heard the stories. If you're about to tell me that you're him - "

"No." L cut him off, "I'm not about to tell you... I'm about to show you."

"Show me how?" he asked, clearly about to write Ryuzaki off as insane.

"By rescuing Light." L stared at him calmly, he pulled out his phone just as Watari's text came in. Flipping the screen he showed them the picture, "This is the man who kidnapped your son."

On his phone screen a picture of their homeroom teacher was displayed, none other than Ohba-san himself. L wasn't surprised, he had been the first person to come to mind when L considered possible suspects.

"I-Isn't he a teacher? At the school?" Sachiko asked timidly.

Soichiro squinted at the photo, then up at him, "And how exactly did you come to this conclusion?"

L shook his head, "I didn't, Watari did. I had him scan a list of my teachers to find one who had recently come to the school lacking any background information. This was taken by a traffic camera a few minutes ago just next to a payphone. The same one used by the kidnapper to contact your cell phone."

"How did you even get that?" Light's father asked weakly.

"I had Watari trace the number used to contact your phone, and then hack into the traffic cameras in the areas nearby. Sure enough one of them caught him one street away from the payphone in question."

"But why did you ask this "Watari" to look into the teachers at the school?"

"Because earlier during our conversation, the kidnapper informed me that he's someone I know. The only people I know here are from the school. None of the students I know personally would have been able to do this; which left only my teachers as suspects. Although, this was only a precaution as I had already determined it to be a 95% chance that the kidnapper was in fact Ohba, due to his connections to Obata." He explained everything extremely quickly, hoping that Soichiro would be able to follow along, being a detective himself.

They didn't have enough time. He was risking everything with this rushed and barely detailed version of what was happening, but if L was going to save both Light, as well as the lives of hundreds, perhaps thousands... That was it!

"On the phone, he said he had planted a bomb in the middle of the Kanto region, and that thousands would die." L said quickly, barely registering the twin grimaces of horror on both of their faces, "Mr. Yagami?"

"Please," he waved a hand impatiently, " Soichiro."

L would have jumped for joy if they had been in any other situation. Instead, L grinned at him, "How quickly can you mobilize the NPA's Bomb Squad, or whatever you call them here?"

"We can have them ready in minutes, just direct me where."

L nodded, "I don't know exactly where it is, but the bomb is likely to be in the most populated, most centralized area in the Kanto region. We have exactly," L checked his watch, "One hour and twenty minutes -"

He was cut off as his phone chimed with an incoming text from an unknown number. It read; "I'm feeling cheesy, so here's a hint. ~O"

L stared at it perplexed, Ohba seemed to be giving them a hint as to one of the bomb's whereabouts..."Cheesy..." L muttered.

"Could it mean some type of food maybe?" Soichiro tried to be helpful, "Did you and Light ever go out somewhere to eat?"

L smacked himself on the forehead, starting both adults next to him, "The movie!" he exclaimed, "The first bomb is at the mall cinema that Misa dragged us to in order to see that cheesy romance movie!"

"A movie? Are you sure?" L knew it was a gamble, with the dwindling amount of time they had left before both bombs detonated, if this wasn't it then many people would die, "I'm sure." L tried to sound confident, "It makes sense, the mall is a central location, and this time on a Saturday it will be teeming with people."

"It is the largest mall in the Kanto region..." Soichiro bit his lip, "I hope you're right Ryuzaki."

"I do too." He mumbled, too low for Soichiro to hear as he dialed the number to the police station. L bit his thumbnail, and considered the situation. It didn't make sense that Ohba would tell him to choose, and then give him two hours... it hit him then.

L stood up when Soichiro had ended his call with the police force, "The "Bomb Squad" as you have so aptly named them are headed to the mall, they want me to meet them there."

L nodded, "I know where the second bomb is now. I can take care of that one."

Soichiro nodded and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Ryuzaki... L... I'm sorry for the trouble I gave you and Light. Now that I can see how happy you make him... I just hope the two of you can forgive me."

His heart swelled, making it extremely difficult to control his emotions, "We already have." he replied.

He nodded, and cleared his throat, "Please, save my son?"

"I will."

And with that he marched out of the front door, leaving L with Sachiko, who gave him a reassuring smile, "I guess you two are in the clear huh?"

L didn't allow myself to smile back, "Not yet."

"Take the car," she pointed at the keys hanging next to the door, "save him."

He then did something unexpected; L hugged her. "Thank you." He whispered.

She hugged him back, "Be safe."

L pulled away and dashed through the door before his emotions could gain any more control over him. Hopping in the car L tore out of the driveway, certain of his destination. He knew only one other thing for sure; Ohba wanted L to come alone. This was the purpose for the second bomb. It was a distraction. A hoax. A magician-like deception to guide the eyes of the police elsewhere while he and the killer battle it out alone.

The second bomb was never meant to go off. There was never a choice for L between Light and thousands of people. Ohba just needed them to think there was. L had no doubt that there was a bomb planted in the cinema, primed and ready to blow. He also had no doubt that the bomb was never meant to reach the end of its timer.

This was between them. This was somehow personal.

L's mind raced as he flicked through a list of people he had wronged or captured throughout his limited years. There were many. Too many. This criminal was intelligent, to set up such an elaborate game as this. L couldn't underestimate him. Not this time. He had no backup, there was no way he didn't know of Aiber and Wedy... L's eyes widened. He swerved to avoid a pedestrian and nearly missed a stop sign.

He knew what he had to do.

Light P.O.V.

"Wakey wakey!" Light was blinded by a sudden light as the windows of his prison were uncovered unceremoniously.

He squinted against the searing light as he tried to make out the details of the room he was being kept in. Light inhaled sharply, recognizing the pleasant green walls, and messy chalkboard of his school classroom. Ohba's classroom. It looked the same as it always did, aside from the lack of furniture, and the addition of an odd mechanical... thing twenty feet directly in front of him. Even without experience Light could recognized a bomb when he saw it.

He wanted to say he was surprised, though truthfully Light had expected something like this. The bomb itself was a high tech type he wasn't able to name from memory. It had quite a few wires running from the sides and blinking lights covering its surface. Judging by the lack of timer its detonation would be instant, and most likely from a distance.

Light tugged in vain at the ropes binding him to his fate, praying both that Ryuzaki would save him and stay far far away from this bomb.

"It would seem that our little detective is on his way... How do you feel about that Light-kun?" The mechanical voice asked from a small microphone positioned on the floor beside the bomb, "Relieved? Happy? Guilty that because of you, he now shares your fate?"

"Shut up." Light growled, trying to sound as menacing as possible while helplessly bound to a chair.

The voice chuckled, "I don't believe that you are in any position to tell me what to do, Light-kun."

"Let Ryuzaki go!" He yelled desperately, "He has nothing to do with this. I was the one who burned down the warehouse. I was the one to send the camera data to the police force. I was the one who convinced him to help the investigation! Ryuzaki doesn't deserve this."

For the first time, the voice on the other end did not sound amused, "Nothing to do with this? Doesn't DESERVE this!? How on earth would you know the things he's done! How on earth would you know that he didn't come here for the specific reason of solving this case! How on earth would you know for sure what he is capable of, when you don't even know his real name?!"

"His... name?" Light asked perplexed, a sinking feeling forming in the pit of his stomach.

"How much of his past do you really know, compared to how much of your life he is a part of?" Light's blood turned to ice and all of the incessant nagging suspicions he had had about Ryuzaki burst, unwelcome, to the surface of his mind. Every piece of doubt Light had harbored since the moment he had first stepped foot into his life suddenly flooded into his mind's eye.

Why did he come here... why did he come here three months before the end of the year... how did he already know everything they were being taught without showing signs of studying... why did he never use his last name... why did Watari act more like a butler than a parent... why was he dead set on being a writer when he had no enthusiasm for English class... why was he in all of Light's classes... why did he know so much about the case after just having moved here...

Those were only half of the questions swirling through Light's thoughts like a hurricane bent of destroying his faith in Ryuzaki. As much as Light refused to admit it, his captor had a point. He knew next to nothing about Ryuzaki's past, while Ryuzaki knew everything about his.

He didn't know what to think.

L P.O.V.

It took him approximately ten seconds to swerve haphazardly into the school parking lot, leap from the driver's seat, sprint to the door, snatch the key from the ledge, unlock the door, and take off through the familiar halls. L knew which classroom Light would be in. As he reached room number 221, L noticed the line of light stretching from beneath the door.

His heart felt as though it were attempting to pound through his rib cage as he threw open the door and sprinted to Light, not registering the bomb in the front of the room. All he could see was Light, tied to a chair and staring at the floor, appearing all but lost to the world.

"Light!" Ryuzaki exclaimed, rushing to him and working at the knots holding his arms behind him.

"Ryuzaki -" He started to say his name, but L shushed him, wanting to untie him first before anything else happened, "Ryuzaki!" he shouted, once his arms were loose, and shoved L away as he went to untie Light's legs.

L stumbled back, coming close to losing his balance, "Light?"

His arms, newly freed, were wrapped tightly across his stomach, as though he were about to be sick, "Who are you?" he whispered this so softly L nearly missed his words. His heart fell. "Who are you?" He repeated louder this time, still avoiding L's eyes.

It took all of his willpower not to fall to his knees. Light gritted his teeth uncertainty and betrayal playing tennis across his face.

"I..." L faltered, uncertain of what to say to him, "I can explain -"

Clap! Clap! Clap! L heard Ohba enter the room before he saw him, clapping slowly as if they were an enthralling drama solely for his own twisted amusement.

"You know..." He began in an arrogant drawl, "in all of my planning and waiting and scheming... I never imagined that things would play out so nicely."

"Alright, Ohba, you have me here, alone, now what is it that you want?" L asked him angrily.

"It was so brave, so unthinking of you to simply rush in here after Light... What if I had shot you on sight?" he dodged the question.

L sighed, "I knew you wouldn't. If your objective was to simply kill me then you would have done so before now, before I knew it was you who was behind everything."

He grinned, and L was surprised to see his teeth did not have points, "So have you guessed it yet? Or have you forgotten what you did to me?"

"Oh so this is a revenge plot, is it?" He asked, feigning nonchalance, "You went this far... for revenge?"

Ohba burst into an insane peal of laughter, "You don't know half of the lengths I went to in order to ensure my victory over you. Whom do you think chose the very school in which your little underling's daughter was enrolled? Whom do you think instructed Obata where, when, and whom to kill? How to get away with it? Whom do you think sent Principal Ackerman away when she came too close to uncovering Obata's secret? Whom do you think allowed Juuzo to procure a job teaching, even with his condition? Whom do you think sent him to Juuzo's classroom during the staff meeting? Whom do you think sent Juuzo? Me. ALLLL ME!"

He revealed all of this with a sick grin on his face, his eyes gleaming maliciously, "It was lucky coincidence that Light entered the school a few years before I set my plan in motion. I took a chance and added his possibility into my equation. I made sure you were in all of his classes. I assigned him as your tour guide on the first day." he chuckled to himself, reminiscing, "I never once believed that my little half-plan would work out so well... I reforged my plans to include Light, and look at where it landed us... Things couldn't have worked out better if I had had the Fates themselves hidden away in my pocket!"

L took an involuntary step back, "You... all of this..." He waved his hand around the room, and between himself and Light, "Was your doing?"

He once again pulled his lips back in an impeccable imitation of the Cheshire cat, "Yes, all of it... Everything was my doing."

"No." L breathed out, attempting to wrap his mind around everything he had just revealed, "Light and I... we are because of you..." L felt the overwhelming need to curl into a ball and never wake up. He couldn't look at Light. He couldn't believe his own stupidity.

"Who are you?" L asked finally, looking up into his eyes, thoroughly devoid of emotion.

"Don't you remember?" he whispered, "I am the son of someone you defeated years ago. Someone you crushed underfoot as though he were nothing more than a bug beneath your shoe... all because he challenged you to a game."

Something clicked in L's brain. The FBI... the old man... three detectives competing to be number one...

"Danuve." L whispered, "You were the one who set off all of those bombs for Danuve during the Detective Wars..."

His grin grew wider, "Finally! Now you get it... I am here today to avenge my father, who was so unjustly defeated by the likes of you."

"Alright, Inigo Montoya, but if your father couldn't defeat me, what makes you think you would be able to now?" L challenged, feeling just a bit of his arrogance returning.

"Because of him." Ohba - or rather Danuve - nodded to Light, "He's your only weakness. I have spent the past three years uncovering everything I could about you... It wasn't easy, I will commend you for that, but finally I uncovered two of your most trusted underlings; Wedy and Aiber. It was simple to come up with a plan from there... threaten Aiber's daughter, lure you out, announce my presence, and put an end to your miserable existence. Never did I think that you would come to the school in person... nor that you would actually fall in love with one of my students! It was almost too easy!"

"So now what?" L interrupted his mad rant, "Now that you have us, what will you do?"

In answer he reached into his pocket, producing a small handheld switch and waving it about in front of him, "Now I will kill you, and rid the world of your filth."

L's eyes widened, "But you'll be killed as well."

"You don't think I know this?" he chuckled, eerily calm, "That is what I intend. I'll go out with a "bang" so to speak, taking my greatest enemy, and his greatest love, out of this world alongside me. What more could I ask for?"

"You should know," L cut in desperately, eyeing his thumb on the switch, "that your father did everything in his power to kill both myself and Eraldo Coil. I did what I did in self defense."

He glared into L's eyes mercilessly, "I don't care. Goodbye -"

"Wait!" Light's cry stopped his finger centimeters away from the switch, "Ryuzaki may be secretive, and arrogant, and downright insufferable at times," L scoffed indignantly, "but I know him. The real him. I don't care if I know his name or not, I know him. He would never kill your father for anything but self defense or in the name of justice. Whoever this Danuve character is, there is no doubt in my mind that he deserved whatever he got." Light's eyes finally met L's.

"I love you." He mouthed silently, and L understood. Light loved him no matter what. He didn't care about his secrets as long as they were kept for decent reasons. When it came down to it, Light would always choose his side. He don't think there was a single moment in his life beforehand that L was happier than right then and there, in the school, beside a bomb, before their imminent deaths, and at the mercy of the Fates themselves.

"ENOUGH!" came Danuve's outraged cry, loud enough to shatter both their moment and their eardrums, "NO! You're supposed to hate him!" he screamed at Light.

His face cleared then, an alarmingly blank expression replacing it, "No matter, I will see you both in Hell anyway. Goodbye, L."

His finger closed the distance to the switch.

In that instant a few different things happened: the window to Danuve's right shattered inward, Light lurched forward, his hands going to the ropes around his ankles, L sighed deeply, having hoped in vain it wouldn't come down to this, and Danuve crumpled to the floor, the switch falling from his slackened fingers.

And then, silence.

"R-Ryuzaki..." Light stared uncomprehendingly at Danuve's splayed form. He lay on his back, his arms and legs spread eagle, and his eyes wide with fright, a similar expression marring his features. Of course there was also the matter of the oozing holes on either side of Danuve's head where the bullet had passed.

"It's over..." He muttered softly, moving over to Light to untie his legs quickly, standing to engulf him in a tight embrace, "It's completely over."

Light wrapped his arms around him tentatively, "I-I thought you were angry with me this past week. That you blamed me. I didn't want to call, for fear that you would reject me..." Light nuzzled his head softly against L's, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..."

L gripped him tighter, "You have nothing to be sorry for. I did the same thing as you this past week, I wallowed in self pity until I couldn't take it any longer... Not to mention that I lied to you about my past..."

Light pulled away slightly in order to gaze into his face, "You do know that even though I've forgiven you, you still have a lot of explaining to do."

L glanced down at Danuve Jr.'s slack form, "Yes... Later..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Psych! I bet you weren't expecting another villain... unless you were because I literally named them after the authors of the manga... Either way you were probably at least a little confused. I heard my writing has that effect on people. At least all of the earlier plot-holes are now covered (I hope).


	20. Sleepover Part 4

Light P.O.V.

Light clung tightly to Ryuzaki as they left the school building. While Light himself was in a mild state of shock, Ryuzaki simply seemed contemplative.

Shock at being kidnapped. Shock at nearly dying... for the second time he might add. Shock at the betrayal of yet another one of his teachers. And most of all, shock at learning that he trusted Ryuzaki despite the fact that he was so obviously hiding a secret the size of Mt Everest.

"Light," he whispered softly, running a hand through Light's hair, "Light, you're alright... nothing is going to happen Light... Light, I can't feel my arm..." He seemed to be repeating Light's name as many times as he could.

Light tensed, not realizing he was cutting off his circulation, "Sorry." he whispered, following him out into the cool night air. Light took a deep breath, feeling some relief flood back into his body. They're safe. He thought vaguely. Ryuzaki didn't blame him.

He almost laughed out loud then as he realized how stupid they had both been, isolating themselves in fear of the other's wrath. There was no wrath. Not between them. They were too deeply connected, too deeply hurt, too deeply in love.

Light squeezed his arm again, "I love you." He whispered.

L smiled ruefully and ran a hand through his hair once again, "I love you too, now shush, we have to meet Watari before heading back to your house."

Light frowned, "Will I get answers when we get there?"

He sighed, "Of course you will. Unless you want to rest first..."

Light glared at him and he smiled softly in return, "It was worth a try."

"No, not really." He snorted, "How long will it take Watari to get here?"

Ryuzaki nodded ahead of us, "He's already waiting."

Sure enough, there was Watari, leaning up against a car, which was haphazardly parked horizontally across two parking spaces. The man was clad in an all black ensemble which made him seem incredibly dodgy compared to the Watari Light thought he knew. The one who sipped tea and read newspapers in Arabic.

"Impeccable shot as always, Watari." Ryuzaki greeted as they approached the shaded figure. Light wasn't even going to ask why it was his mother's car he was leaning against.

"You were the one who shot Ohba?" Light asked, not as surprised as he would have liked to have been. In response, Watari opened the car door and patted the humongous riffle resting across the back seat. He winked at him and Light felt a fresh wave of respect for the man.

"Shall we be off then?" Ryuzaki asked, "We have to drop off Watari before we head to your house, and I'm sure your parents are out of their minds with worry for you, Light."

His eyes widened, "My parents.." He felt guilt settle into the pit of his stomach like a coiled snake. He could only imagine the grief they had experienced. "Ryuzaki," Light realized slowly, "Where are my parents? I can't imagine my father letting you come here alone..."

He bit his lip, "I'll add that to the list of things I have to explain once we get to your house."

Light nodded, not willing to fight him over this; the important thing was that he was planning on revealing everything. Silently, he hopped in the car and waited patiently as they stopped at Ryuzaki's apartment to release Watari.

"Hold on just a few more minutes Light." L whispered to him, as though sensing his growing anticipation as they neared his house, "Everything will make sense in a few minutes." Light wasn't even lethargic at that point, he knew somewhere in the dark corners of his mind that he would crash out of pure exhaustion later, but for now he was buzzing with both energy and questions.

The minute the car's wheels pulled to a stop in his driveway Light all but leaped from the passenger seat, sprinting to the door just as it was thrown open and his parents stepped through, relief etched so deeply into their faces he was worried they would remain that way forever.

Light bounded up to them and engulfed them both in a tight embrace, feeling their arms encircle him as they whispered their thanks to any deity that would listen that he had come home safely.

Light was astonished as his father pulled away from their family reunion and opened his arm to include Ryuzaki into the group hug. His heart felt as though it would burst, seeing the soft smile spread across Ryuzaki's face as he was welcomed into the family with open arms.

They stood like this for what seemed to Light like hours, but was probably only a few minutes. When they finally pulled apart, his mother placed her hands on Ryuzaki's shoulders and whispered, "Thank you."

He nodded and Light took his hand in his, squeezing it proudly. He sighed, "And now for my explanation."

Light felt his anticipation grow. For a long time he had known that something just didn't quite add up with Ryuzaki's story. It wasn't so much of a suspicion as an itch in the back of his mind, hidden by the overwhelming dilemma that had been the case.

Once he had all three of them situated on the couch in the living room, Ryuzaki stood before them and sucked in a deep breath, apprehension suddenly marring his features. He swallowed audibly. "Light," he began, looking to him, "I want to apologize for hiding my past and identity from you until now. Believe me when I say I have wanted to tell you for a long time now."

He bit his lip, waiting for him to go on.

"You see the truth is... I am L."

Light immediately burst out in nervous laughter; which quieted down quickly as he realized that no one else was laughing with him.

"What?" Light asked incredulously, glancing back and forth between Ryuzaki and his parents, who astonishingly didn't seem surprised, "You're serious? You? L?"

He nodded solemnly, "Your parents can attest to this."

Light glanced at his father, who glanced reproachfully at Ryuzaki, though without any real venom, "He's telling the truth, Light. Your mother and I found out a few hours ago when we received a call from the man who kidnapped you."

He glanced back at Ryuzaki - L, "How...?"

Ryuzaki took a deep breath, and began. He told them how Aiber, one of the mystery people from the warehouse called him in to catch a killer who was making his way around his daughter's school. He told them how he had decided to go undercover himself on this case out of boredom. He told them how his plan from the beginning was to get close to Misa and ask her to play the role of bait. He told them how, out of all of the variables and all the circumstances he had accounted for, Light was never one of them. He told them how Light swept him off his feet. He told them how he had decided to work on his own once he had known the note was about him.

Light informed him he had done the same. He informed him of how he had stolen cameras from the AV club. He informed him of how he had hidden them around a warehouse he had known to be empty for ages. Light informed him of how he had left a note in Juuzo's classroom, requesting for him to meet him in the warehouse. The note that tipped off Obata. Light informed him of the time he spent over the last week in a perpetual state of depression, psyching himself out of calling him, out of fear Ryuzaki would reject him.

They told one other so many apologies that night that Light couldn't even recall half of them. Each of them were meaningless anyway, seeing as neither of them blamed the other in the first place.

Light asked him countless questions about being L. To L's credit, he answered every single one of them, despite looking as though he were about to keel over from exhaustion; which for him was a rarity. Even as he quite literally swayed on his feet like a blade of grass in the wind he answered honestly, no detail spared.

He told Light of the orphanage and of his successors, the ones he had told Light were his brothers, though that wasn't so much a lie as a half truth; Watari's true identity as a genius inventor and owner of orphanages around the world didn't surprise Light in the least.

Last but not least, he told Light the story of the legendary battle between the world's three greatest detectives; L, Eraldo Coil, and Danuve. He did his best to explain the series of spiraling cases and labyrinthine puzzles the three of them solved, seeking one another out and clawing each other down, brick by searing brick. He explained that Danuve used his son to plant bombs across the world, as well as the FBI to cover them up.

"Oh!" Light realized, "That's how Ohba got Juuzo his spot at the school, and how he had Ms. Ackerman sent back to the states on such short notice."

Ryuzaki nodded, "Yes, it would seem that he has been using the FBI under the name Danuve... Even though I had claimed all three titles years ago..."

Light let out a deep breath he hadn't known he was holding, "Everything makes sense now."

Ryuzaki seemed to be watching him carefully, watching for any signs that he was going to suddenly become upset, perhaps storm out or renounce him. The thought made his heart twist.

Light stood up slowly and walked over to the armchair he was perched on, facing Light's family on the couch. Ryuzaki - L - watched him walk over in silence, and worried at his bottom lip. Light ignored the fact that both of his parents were in the room, and leaned down to kiss him on the cheek before squeezing himself into the seat beside him, wrapping both his arms around him reassuringly.

He could see his father fidgeting slightly out of the corner of his eye, but he had assured them earlier that they had his blessing. If that were the case then he would simply have to get used to this.

He felt the slightest hitch in Ryuzaki's breathing, as though he wanted to cry, though Light knew he would never allow himself to do so, not in front of his parents at least.

"So..." Soichiro began awkwardly, "What now?"

Sachiko chuckled, "How about we have dinner for starters? I'll start heating up the left over fettuccine alfredo, while you three figure out exactly what you're going to tell Sayu when she gets home."

All three of them winced as they remembered Sayu, and Sachiko made her exit.

Light looked over to Ryuzaki, "You're staying for dinner, right?"

He nodded, "If I'm allowed."

Light rolled his eyes as though this were a stupid question, but he knew how L felt; it was odd being able to be this open, especially in front of his dad. Speaking of whom... It took the three of them half an hour to come up with a watered down version of what had happened that day, and they hesitantly came to the conclusion that Sayu should know who Ryuzaki truly was.

"I believe my future sister-in-law should know my true identity." Ryuzaki stated thoughtfully while Soichiro and Light both choked on their tea. The three of them burst out laughing, and it wasn't until years later that his mom showed Light the photo she had snapped of the three of them from kitchen doorway.

His father stopped trying to apologize for his reaction to their relationship after they shut down his tenth attempt. Both of them had long since forgiven him, and there was no use rehashing old battles.

When Sayu did arrive she ate up their story like it was the most interesting thing in the world. She hugged both Ryuzaki and Light so tightly Light was afraid his lungs would burst, squealing about the fact that her brother's boyfriend was rich and famous.

Dinner was a pleasant occasion, all of them laughed and listened to Ryuzaki's endless detective stories, all of which blew Sioichiro's right out of the water. As he and Ryuzaki cleaned dishes at the end of the night, Light had an odd sense of déjà vu, not helped by the fact that Ryuzaki started a soap-sud war three minutes into their task.

"Can this really be only the second time you've ever eaten dinner here?" Light asked incredulously.

"Well it was rather difficult for me to worm my way into your family dinners lately, for obvious reasons..." Ryuzaki reminded him. Light smiled and launched another round of suds into his face. It was on.

"Boys!" Their battle was ended abruptly by his mother who stood in the kitchen doorway with her hands placed firmly on her hips, though her face was betraying a hint of a smile as she reprimanded them for destroying her kitchen.

She stood over them as they cleaned up their mess, and then did something surprising; she asked Ryuzaki if he would like to stay the night.

"Um, mom..." Light questioned, "You know we're..."

"Yes, yes, I know." She waved his question away impatiently, "But I trust you, Light. And you, Ryuzaki. Besides, you have both been through so much tonight... You both look as if you're about to keel over from exhaustion. I doubt there will be much more than sleeping going on between you two tonight."

She was right. It wasn't until she pointed it out that Light felt the entirety of his exhaustion. He supposed that was his parasympathetic nervous system doing it's job. He glanced over to Ryuzaki in time to catch him rubbing at his eyes.

"Please get to bed before you fall over... And take your boyfriend with you." she hit him affectionately on the shoulder with the washcloth in her hand and went to clear Sayu from the living room as well; she was so engrossed in the new Hideki Ryuuga movie that she hadn't noticed the time.

Light let out a deep breath and smiled, feeling completely, utterly, genuinely, content as he took Ryuzaki's hand in his own. He didn't remember climbing the stairs or changing into pajamas. He vaguely hoped he had brushed his teeth as he found himself under the covers with Ryuzaki, hugging him tightly to his chest.

L P.O.V.

L's heart felt as though it was going to burst with emotions. He wasn't aware before that point that it was even possible to feel that many at one time.

Relief for the end of the case. Hope for the future. Gratitude for Light's family. Love for Light. Contentment for his arms wrapped around him. And just genuine, pure, utter, happiness for his own life; to be here, now, at this very moment in time. To be with the most perfect person that ever existed.

He sighed a deep, contented sigh.

"Ryuzaki?" Light whispered softly. It was then that he realized Light's shirt beneath his cheek was damp.

L moved one hand from around him to wipe at his eyes, "Sorry Light, I'm just really happy..." Light's arms tightened around him and he nuzzled his head against his.

"Light..." L said softly, "Why don't you hate me?"

"For what?" He mumbled into his hair, genuinely confused as to why he would think he would be upset.

"I lied. I concealed my identity. I went behind your back..."

"Oh not this again..." Light rubbed circles into his back soothingly, "I don't see any reason why I should be mad, your secret... is probably one of the biggest secrets in the world. It's understandable why you would wait to be sure I was trustworthy. And I don't blame you for going behind my back, I did the same thing to you, remember? At least you had experience behind you, I just blindly challenged him... On my own no less..."

Light trailed off and L realized he still blamed himself just as much L did himself, "Light. We need to stop blaming ourselves." he stated, "We both need to accept the fact that we are equally to blame and dwelling on what happened won't help us."

He chuckled softly, "Did Watari tell you that?"

L smiled despite himself, "Yes he did, I was just too depressed to see his wisdom at the time."

Light pulled back slightly and pressed his lips to L's in a brief but breathtaking kiss, "You're absolutely right." And with that he fell asleep, his arms still tightly around him, leaving L alone with his thoughts.

He leaned back a bit to kiss Light's forehead, watching the way his eyelids fluttered softly, and realizing that he would never be able to live without Light again.

It was then that he came to his decision.


	21. Happily Ever After?

Light P.O.V.

 _"Come with me to England._ " L's voice repeated itself over and over and over and over in the back of Light's head, even now as they were ascending the podium steps, as co-valedictorians.

This was weeks later, and Light still hadn't given Ryuzaki his answer. He had released this monster of a decision upon Light the morning after his rescue. They had been lying in bed together, Light had just woken up from a pleasant dream he couldn't quite remember, especially not as he opened his eyes to L's soft smile.

" _Morning._ " He had mumbled sleepily.

 _"Morning._ " L had replied, still gazing at him in a way that made Light want to bush.

" _What?_ " Light asked, somewhat defensively, not knowing for once what he had had on his mind.

 _"Light... I have something to ask you..._ "

And then it was out. The proverbial cat was dumped unceremoniously from its bag. He had told Light that he was returning to England the week after their graduation. Then he told Light he loved him. Then he told him he wanted Light to go with him.

If he wanted to of course. No worries.

Light hadn't known what to say. He told him he had to think about it, and he assured Light that he could take all the time he needed to decide. Needless to say, breakfast was a rather quiet affair.

They spent most of Sunday together, though he had to leave early in the afternoon so that Light could get the rest of his homework done. Being absent an entire week had set him back, and unlike L, he hadn't learned this material in kindergarten.

On Monday they were back in school. They both received an award for stopping the murder of their fellow students. Luckily, the new principal decided to ignore the fact that Light had stolen equipment from the school's AV club... Though Light tended to believe that this was purely out of her gratitude for them for saving her from having to shut down the school in her first year on the job.

Both Ryuzaki and Light made a nonverbal agreement to keep his offer to themselves for the time being, and thankfully Ryuzaki seemed to know not to badger him about it. Something he was extremely grateful for.

However despite his nonchalance and assurances, Light could see in his eyes that he was afraid Light would say no. Light was afraid that he would as well. The only problem was, he was also afraid that he would say yes. Light couldn't be mad at him for laying this on him. He had known he was going back to England at some point; not to mention the fact that he had secretly, desperately, hoped that Ryuzaki would ask him to go with.

If he stayed, it would break his heart to be away from Ryuzaki. Everyone knows that long distance never works out anyway. Plus, the chance to work his dream job, at the side of his childhood hero... who happened to be his hero in real life as well, was a chance he wouldn't miss for the world.

The only problem was; his family. His father had just barely begun to accept their relationship, and it saddened Light to think that he would be so far from his mother and sister. He would even miss Misa and Kiyomi. And besides, his entire life was in Japan. He couldn't just uproot everything and move halfway around the world with a guy he met a few months ago... This wasn't Shakespeare. Ryuzaki wasn't Romeo. And Light certainly wasn't Juliet.

Light just didn't know what to do. He knew what Misa would tell him, and Kiyomi as well. He knew what his mom would tell him; and he had some idea of that his dad would say. He just couldn't make up his mind... And so, weeks later, the two of them ascended the podium, about to end their high school careers for good, and all Light could think of was the person beside him.

It took Light precisely four minutes and thirty seven seconds to give his half of the speech; having practiced to the point of perfection. Ryuzaki's half took him three minutes and forty nine seconds which Light had to count out in his head as he spoke, seeing as L just made up the entire thing off the top of his head.

Light sighed and refrained from slapping his hand to his forehead in exasperation, still unable to figure out how he did that sort of thing. He caught the twitch of L's lips out of the corner of his eye and had no doubt that he had done this simply to irk him. Is it sad that Light enjoyed that fact?

Their audience gave them such an ovation that it was all Light could do to keep himself from sprinting off the stage in search of a quiet, secluded spot. Instead however they simply bowed, and made their way off of the stage together. As one. How it should be.

Light was struck by the _rightness_ of the situation, for lack of a better word. He knew in his heart that it should only, could only be Ryuzaki beside him as they made their way from the spotlight to their seats reserved in the back. It overwhelmed him then how far they had come, and how far they still had yet to go. He felt the burn of tears in his eyes, and pushed this emotion down for the time being. Crying at graduation was not an option.

He felt Ryuzaki's foot nudge his gently after they had settled in their seats. Light glanced over at him, and once again caught the look of dread in his eyes. Light couldn't stand it. "Excuse me for a moment," he stood up and motioned to his parents a few rows back that he had to go to the bathroom, "Yeah... Yeah I'm fine, I'll be right back." He answered the question on Ryuzaki's face, and hurried out of the auditorium.

Light quickly made his way to the closest bathroom and shut the door behind him, grateful for the solitude. Leaning up against one of the sinks, he examined his reflection, the perfect hair, perfect teeth, straight nose, and proud eyes. He was irritated with himself for being so indecisive. He felt as if he were in a cartoon, with a tiny angel perched on one shoulder and a devil on the other; both shouting incoherent, repetitive arguments into each ear as he tried to make his decision.

He sighed, this was all so cliché. He felt like every character in every cheesy romance movie ever; having to decide between his family and the love of his life. Did this mean that Light was going to pick him? He wished it were that simple.

Light thought through everything they had been through, everything they had accomplished. He thought of the wreck he had been when he thought Ryuzaki had blamed him. When he thought he was going to leave him. He remembered the elation he had felt at hearing his voice the day he had rescued him. He thought about the way they had so easily fallen asleep in each other's arms that very night. He recalled the hesitation Ryuzaki had been showing toward Light ever since he had asked him to move with him.

It was as if Ryuzaki feared frightening him off. Light resented the cautious air he took around him. It hurt his heart to even think that Ryuzaki was pulling back from him, even if it was only ever so slightly... And he knew that Ryuzaki didn't mean to stress him out, but the question was still there. And it still required an answer.

Light sighed then, running a hand down his face and beginning to realize just how stupid he had been. It was then that he heard a soft knocking on the door. He knew who it was without having to ask. Light felt his heart fill with warmth. He knew that if it had been anyone else standing at the door he would have surely been irritated at their presence; but the only thing Light felt as he watched him open the door and hurry to him was relief. Light had made his choice.

L P.O.V.

He could tell that something was wrong the moment Light left the ceremony. L's heart clenched, _What if he had decided he didn't want to go?_ What if Light was gearing himself to break up with him? L sighed and forced down these feelings; whatever his decision, Light needed him, and he knew that at this moment, he would be the only person Light would want to see.

He stood up from his own seat and made his way out of the auditorium as well, trailing in the direction he had seen Light head. "Ryuzaki, wait up!" He turned to see Misa and Kiyomi jogging to catch up to him, how she ran in those heels he would never know.

He sighed, "Misa, Kiyomi, I'm sure that I'm the only one - "

"Oh don't be so full of yourself. The both of you are entirely too melodramatic. What Light needs right now is his friends, and that includes us." Kiyomi gestured between the three of them. He felt his respect for her grow.

L nodded, "You're right, Kiyomi. But please let me have a minute with him first? I just need to talk to him about his decision." it was true that the girls already knew about the proposition he had given Light, after Misa had somehow guessed based on their behavior and told Kiyomi. He had to admit, Misa was much more clever than anyone gives her credit for.

They glanced at one another quickly before nodding in agreement, and the three of them set off. It took them less than two minute to find the closest bathroom and sure enough he heard the sounds of pacing from beyond the door. L knocked on the door softly, and the pacing stopped. Cautiously he peeked inside. Light was standing in the center of the room with an odd look on his face; L couldn't tell if it was sorrow or relief.

"Ryuzaki..." Light breathed out his name, as L watched his eyes fill with tears.

L could sense his hesitation, "Light... If this decision is too much for you..."

Light cut him off with a hug, gripping the back of his shirt tightly, "No, it's not. I'm just sorry that it took me this long to decide."

L tensed up at his words, but he just held on that much tighter. "So... You've made your decision?" He asked apprehensively.

Light let out a long sigh, "Yes, I have. Ryuzaki... You know I love you, but I love my family as well. This isn't easy for me to say..."

L pulled back just enough to be able to look him in the eyes, "It's okay Light, I will accept any answer you give me." he said, meaning every word of it, even if Light's answer scared him half to death.

L watched as his eyes began to shine once again and he buried his face in L's shirt, unable to meet his eyes any longer, and L felt his heart quake, "Ryuzaki... I can't..."

"Oh." He heard his own breath catch as his heart stopped.

"I can't... let you leave without me." Light's breath hitched this time.

L pulled back to punch his arm softly, "That was cruel." he muttered, though he was just about as adept at hiding his smile from Light as Light was at hiding his smile from him. And soon enough their lips were pressed together and he was running his hands through L's already mussed up hair, and Light not caring that he was wrinkling his suit with his hands.

At that moment however, a loud pounding came through the door and a stern voice rang out, "You two better not be making out in there!"

"Oh, right," L chuckled sheepishly, pulling away, "I forgot to mention, Kiyomi and Misa followed me here..."

"If you don't come out, we're coming in!" They hastily sprang apart as the two impatient girls burst into the room.

"Light! What's wrong? We were so worried when you ran out like that!" Misa seemed concerned, and although Kiyomi acted like her usual cold self, Ryuzaki could tell she was worried as well.

"It's alright," Light assured them, attempting in vain to straighten out his jacket and tie, while L took the opportunity to appear particularly smug as he did so, "I'm fine now. I was just a bit overwhelmed."

"Did you decide whether or not you are going with Ryuzaki yet?" Misa asked curiously.

Light shot an irritated look at L, but he simply shrugged, "She guessed." Even after all these years, Misa's intuition still managed to catch them both by surprise.

"Yes, I did." Light smiled, taking L's hand and squeezing it reassuringly.

"YAY!" Misa squealed and jump tackled them.

L was surprised to see Kiyomi smiling as well, "I'm happy for you two. I really am." And then she joined in on the group hug. The important thing was that they were happy for Light, and that they approved of his decision. All that was left was to inform his parents...

Light P.O.V.

After the graduation ceremony, his parents invited Ryuzaki, Misa, and Kiyomi over to their house for a celebratory movie night, popcorn and all.

When they all arrived, Light hurried into the kitchen to help his mother make the popcorn. "Light?" she asked curiously, "I can make the snacks this time, you go be with your friends."

"Mom..." He began cautiously, "I... umm... have something to ask you."

Sensing his serious tone she turned to and leaned up against the counter, "You know you can tell me anything, Light."

"Well..." He began awkwardly, "So Ryuzaki - L - has offered me... a position." He chose to phrase it this way so that it didn't sound like he was skipping college to run off with his boyfriend.

She didn't seem very surprised by this, "I expected as much. But are you planning on going all the way to England with him?"

Light swallowed nervously, "I know mom, it's pretty far... but this is a once in a life-time opportunity - "

"That I fully believe you should take." His father's voice came from the doorway. Light turned, half in disbelief. Out of anyone he believed that his father would give him the most grief about leaving with Ryuzaki, "What?" He smiled at Light, "Don't look so surprised, Light. I told you that the two of you have my blessing, and I meant that." He paused, "I also believe that working alongside L is the greatest position anyone could ever hope to hold. It's a far stone's throw from my measly position." He paused, "Light, if this is what makes you happy then I fully support your decision, and I couldn't be more proud to call you my son."

For the second time that night Light felt the need to cry, but again he refrained, opting instead to hug him tightly, "Thank you dad." he whispered.

"You're welcome." He replied, "But my blessing means nothing if your mother doesn't agree..."

They both looked over to her and she sighed, "What about college?"

"I could easily have Watari forge any college diploma he wants, Mrs. Yagami." Ryuzaki butted in from the doorway. Light rolled his eyes at him.

"Oh well in that case," his mom rolled her eyes at him fondly, and then sighed, "I suppose I give you permission Light. But on two conditions."

Light nodded quickly, "Two conditions. Name your terms."

"One is that you have to keep in touch, and I mean regularly." she looked at him sternly.

"We can easily set up a video conference at least once a week." Ryuzaki offered helpfully.

His mom nodded, "That is acceptable. My second condition, is that you have to be the one to break it to Sayu."

Light groaned at this one, and she smiled vindictively, "Can I make Ryuzaki do it?"

She shook her head and hugged him, "It has to come from you, Light."

Light groaned again, but knew deep down that she was right, "Alright. I'll tell her later, after everyone leaves."

She nodded, "When will you two be leaving?"

Light looked to Ryuzaki who replied, "In a few days, I'm sorry to spring this on you so soon, but I've been away from my brothers for far too long."

"It's partly my fault," Light interjected, "it took me a couple weeks to decide..."

She and his father exchanged a glance and chuckled, "It's alright I suppose, as long as you keep your promise, Light. And you too Ryuzaki! We need to keep tabs on our future son-in-law, just to make sure he's treating our son right."

Ryuzaki chuckled, "Will do Mrs. Yagami." His mom then hugged them both and left them to popcorn duty, bringing his father with her.

"That went much better than expected..." Light muttered suspiciously, eyeing Ryuzaki, who had immediately busied himself with stealing snacks from the tray.

"Hmm... Well they probably guessed beforehand that I would ask you to come with me, it's not as if I had hidden the fact that I live in England..." he hummed softly, busying himself with the food. Light's eyes narrowed, but he dropped the subject... that would be an argument for another day. Especially since Sayu chose that moment to burst into the kitchen.

"Hey love birds! Mom says you have something to tell me." she glanced back and forth at them expectantly. Light sighed, that was just like mom... He supposed there was no beating around the bush...

"I'm moving to England with Ryuzaki."

"Oh okay! When?" Light's eyes widened and he glanced over at an equally shocked Ryuzaki.

"You're not upset?" Light asked, holding up a popcorn bowl as a shield just in case.

"Light, either way you were going to move out after high school, at least you're going with Ryuzaki to be a super secret detective spy... Besides, if you two broke up then who's gonna bring me on top secret missions around the world?" she shrugged.

Light snorted, "Well don't look at us... And we're leaving in a few days."

Her eyes popped, "So soon!? Liiight!"

"See, there's the reaction I was expecting." He lifted up the popcorn bowl for extra protection again.

"You dummy, why so soon?" She pouted, crossing her arms.

Light sighed, "Sayu... Ryuzaki's been away from his home for too long, he has brothers -"

"And you have a sister!" She continued to pout.

"Yes, but he has three brothers, two of which are ten, and the other eight." He argued.

"Humph." she huffed, "Fine. But you better send me something cool when you get there."

Light smiled and walked over to hug her, "Thank you for understanding."

"Yeah whatever, just don't forget to send me stuff!" She stole a handful of popcorn and marched through the doorway into the living room where everyone was waiting to watch the movie.

He looked over to Ryuzaki, relief etched onto his face, "We're all set then I guess..."

He nodded, temporarily abandoning his snack pilfering to wrap Light in his arms, "I promise you that this will be the adventure of a life time." he whispered into his hair. Light shivered, anticipating the future they would have... together.

They spent the next few days in constant company; when it wasn't his family, it was their friends. Light knew in his heart that he had made the right choice, but he also knew that when the time came he would miss them all terribly. On his final day in Japan - for a while at least - everyone decided to come over to see them off; something Light appreciated more than he would admit. He was up in his room, packing the last of his things into his carry-on bag, the rest of it was to be shipped up by his parents on a later date.

Light felt a thrill run down his spine as he tucked the last shirt and tie into the corner of the bag. He didn't even attempt to suppress the grin he felt spread across his face. It was really happening... Light stepped back to survey the room one last time, nostalgia hitting him like a tidal wave right to the chest.

He wrapped his arms around himself as he heard footsteps just beyond the door right before Ryuzaki poked his head through. "Your sister has been teasing me nonstop so I thought I would come and help you pack -" he cut off as Light marched to the door and enveloped him in a tight embrace. He wasn't sure what motivated the sudden need to wrap his arms around him, but neither of them were exactly complaining.

"I- " Light frowned, trying to remember why he felt so odd.

"Light," he said quietly, "if you're having second thoughts -"

"No." he said firmly, knowing Ryuzaki still harbored a fear that he would change his mind, despite the fact that he had reassured him otherwise countless times, "I'm just really happy. Nervous, but happy." His eyes lit up as Light threw the last of his items into the suitcase and slammed it shut, "Ready?"

"I was born ready." he offered Light his hand, and he took it in his own, feeling his reassuring squeeze as He took one last look around the room before closing the door. He wouldn't be back for a while.

As they walked slowly down the stairs, he saw that everyone was gathered in the front hall, no doubt Watari was already parked on the curb, car running, ready to go at a moment's notice. He walked over to Kiyomi and Misa, both of whom looked about ready to cry, "I'll miss you guys." He smiled.

Misa burst into loud tears, "Light!" she jumped on top of him, nearly knocking him to the floor.

Light hugged her back, before letting go to hug Kiyomi, "Take care of Misa, please." He whispered to her.

"I will." she replied before straightening up and glaring at Ryuzaki, who had had a teary-eyed Misa wrapped around his neck, "And you. You better take care of our Light, or we'll both personally come to England to kick your skinny little ass. Understood?"

Ryuzaki chuckled, "You both are welcome to visit anytime, though I don't think my "skinny little ass" needs to be kicked..." Kiyomi nodded in acceptance of his answer, and went to pull Misa off of him, leaving Light to say his final goodbyes to his family.

"Mom, Sayu..." he hugged them both, ruffling his sister's hair as he did so. And finally, "Dad." Light turned to him and he engulfed Light in one of his famous bear hugs, before he even had time to react.

"Light, my son... I just want you to know that I fully support you. And you as well, Ryuzaki." he added, raising his head to glance at him, "I think you'll make a fine son-in-law someday."

"Thank you... dad." Ryuzaki smirked.

"Alright, don't push your luck." Soichiro replied, shaking his head and laughing as Ryuzaki walked over to shake his hand.

And then, with all goodbyes having been said, they made their way to the car, hand in hand, as it should be, and as it always would be from then on out. Light turned around once more to catch one last glance of his childhood home, and Sayu called out, "Send me something nice!"

Light chuckled as they climbed into the waiting car, watching as his family shrank slowly into the distance as they drove away down the street. He glanced over at Ryuzaki, who was watching him closely, "I love you."

He smiled softly and took Light's hand in his, "And I you."

Light couldn't remember ever having felt happier, than in that moment in time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End! I hope you enjoyed reading my story, I certainly enjoyed writing it! There is an epilogue (of sorts) as you will see in a moment as well as an announcement I'm working on. So stay tuned for just a little longer!


	22. Epilogue?

Light P.O.V.

He was up in his room, packing the last of his things into his carry-on bag, the rest of it was to be shipped up by his parents on a later date. Light felt a thrill run down his spine as he tucked the last shirt and tie into the corner of the bag. He didn't even attempt to suppress the grin he felt spread across his face. It was really happening...

Light smiled to himself and ceased his frantic packing for a moment, nearly jumping out of his skin as a hideous cackling sounded from the shadows behind him. It took everything Light had to force down the scream attempting to crawl its way up his throat as he turned to face the ghastly creature calmly standing on his carpet, it's unnervingly wide eyes boring holes through his.

The monster continued to cackle ominously, but Light simply stood frozen in place, waiting for it to make the first move. He couldn't hope to outsmart a creature he had no prior knowledge of.

After a few tense moments, it spoke in a raspy voice that would put a chain smoker to shame, "Hey Light. How've ya been?"

"Y-You know my name?" Light frowned, "Have we met before?"

He refrained from asking the obvious _'what the hell are you and what are you doing in my bedroom_ ' for fear that it would become offended and possibly attempt to wrench his soul from his body. It seemed to be some sort of reaper or god of death. That or it had recently robbed a Hot Topic.

It simply laughed again, "Technically no. Not here anyway... but in another place, another reality perhaps, I knew you better than anyone else."

"Another reality?" Light was intrigued now, his fear all but forgotten, "What do you mean by 'better than anyone else'?"

It chuckled again, "Even if I was allowed to tell you, I still wouldn't. I simply came here to see what would have become of you if I hadn't gotten bored that day."

 _Bored?_ What did this thing's boredom have to do with Light's life?

"I have to admit, I certainly wasn't expecting to find you and L so... cozy with one another..." the malevolent grin rose goose bumps along his arms.

"Why not? I'm guessing from the way you said that, Ryuzaki and I knew each other in this... other reality. Were we not together?" Light found it extremely hard to imagine a reality in which they knew one other but were not together.

It's grin grew wider, "Not together..." it repeated, as though tasting the words, "No, you are nothing like the Light I knew."

Light's patience grew thin with the creature's hidden meanings and hints to things that had never happened in this string of reality, "What was he like then? The Light you knew."

"He was... entertaining. Ambitious. Cunning. A true Slytherin through and through." the raspy cackle made another appearance, "He was well known around the world... as Kira."

"Kira," Light echoed, frowning "kind of like the English word 'killer'."

The monster's eyes seemed to gleam, "As sharp as ever, Light."

Light's eyes widened, "No! I would never..." he trailed off, remembering that the Light he was talking about was an alternate universe version of himself; therefore anything was possible - even the idea of him being a killer. But he had said that he wanted to know what would have become of Light if he hadn't gotten bored... Did this monster turn another version of himself into a killer... for its own amusement?

Horrified, Light tried to take a step back, only to have the back of his calf hit the side of his bed. Great. Good to know there wouldn't be an easy escape route should the creature decide to attack. Not that it mattered since it stood in front of the door and the only other way out was a jump through the second story window.

Despite his precarious situation, Light simply had to know, "What was my relationship with Ryuzaki?" He set his features to a firm and determined expression.

The creature seemed to regard him with a questioning look in its eyes, "Normally I'm not supposed to divulge information like that, but since I've already told you too much, a bit more information couldn't hurt..." A victorious smile began to spread across Light's face before he noticed the downright evil look in the creature's eyes; something told him he would regret hearing what came next. God he hated always being right.

"In my reality you, Light Yagami, knowingly cause the murder of the detective L."

Light sank to his knees, not wanting to believe his own ears, "No..."

"Yes," the bastard seemed to be enjoying Light's inner turmoil, "from the moment you saw the L on your TV screen, calling you evil, you made it your mission to destroy the man behind the letter. And you succeeded; you also killed two of his successors, but I suppose you would rather not hear of that."

Light smothered his ears with the heels of his hands, not caring if he offended the monster before him. He looked up at the creature as it made its exit, sliding through the wall as though it were nothing but water. "I'm Ryuk the shinigami by the way, not that you'll remember..." And just like that it was gone.

The room seemed to grow brighter and Light rose from his position on the floor, not quite remembering the sound he was trying to block out. He heard footsteps beyond the door just before Ryuzaki poked his head through. "Your sister has been teasing me nonstop so I thought I would come and help you pack -" he cut off as Light marched to the door and enveloped him in a tight embrace.

He wasn't sure what motivated the sudden need to wrap his arms around Ryuzaki, but neither of them were exactly complaining. "I- " Light frowned, trying to remember why he felt so odd.

"Light," L said quietly, "if you're having second thoughts -"

"No." Light replied firmly, knowing L still harbored a fear that he would change his mind, despite the fact that he had reassured him otherwise countless times, "I'm just really happy. Nervous, but happy."

His eyes lit up as Light threw the last of his items into the suitcase and slammed it shut, "Ready?"

"I was born ready." he offered Light his hand, and Light took it in his own, feeling his reassuring squeeze as he took one last look around the room before closing the door.

He wouldn't be back for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I couldn't resist just one last rug pull... Plus I thought Ryuk deserved a cameo in this universe, the other one must be so boring without Light and L


	23. Shameless Self-Promotion

**And now for the special announcement... I've written a sequel!**

**So if you're bored, down for a few more twists and turns, or just generally deep in denial that Death Note has ended (we've all been there) then you can check out my new story:[The Successor Conundrum](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9879620/chapters/22160375)**

**In which Light finds out just how incredibly vexing three small geniuses can be... Not that L is much help himself...**

**Anyway, thank you for reading to the end of my little story, and I hope to see you all again!**

**Good Memories and Nightmares**

**\- MDL**


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